State assembly primary set for Sept. 14

Written by Mark Lungariello

Thursday, 02 September 2010 13:34

Roach, Jaffe square off for Dem. line

There may be an anti-Democratic candidate storm brewing in Westchester’s voting population this year, but that’s a battle for another day. On Tuesday, Sept. 14, a primary election is set to determine which of two Democratic State Assembly candidates will get the nod to try to unseat incumbent Robert Castelli, a Republican who won special election in February in the heavily Democratic 89th Assembly District.

Facing off for the Democratic line are White Plains Common Council President Tom Roach and West Harrison resident Mark Jaffe in what has been a bit of an understated primary campaign season that has come without an organized debate between candidates. The 89th District has a 10,000 Democrat-to-Republican voter advantage though the traditionally left leaning district was turned on its head after Castelli’s election earlier this year.

Roach, already having received the backing of the Independence and Working Families parties, is aware that 2010 is a different year for candidates than ever before. He’s been going door-to-door introducing himself to voters in the district, which includes parts of White Plains, Harrison, Bedford, Lewisboro and Mt. Kisco. The first question many residents ask is, “Are you the
incumbent?” The implication is clear: People are frustrated at the system and ready to let those in office know about it.

“I hope people make their decisions on a person-by-person basis,” Roach told The Harrison Report this week. As an elected official for almost nine years in White Plains, the candidate said he is distancing himself from being viewed as part of ‘the machine.’ “I’m not running at all as someone who is going to plug into the system,” he said. “In White Plains, people know who I am. I don’t worry about that stuff because I’m not a pro-politician or a career politician.”

An attorney by trade, Roach said he became involved in city politics after partaking in civic groups and local initiatives. He said he hoped to take what he learned in White Plains about the burden on local taxpayers and municipalities and bring reform to Albany.

Jaffe, CEO for the New York Greater Chamber of Commerce, told us he had hoped for the opportunity to debate his opponent. To counter that, he has sponsored meet-the-candidate forums with the opportunity for voters of any party registration to meet him. Jaffe actually announced his candidacy well before Roach did, but the common council president scooped up backing of local Democratic committee district leaders. Jaffe believes that he is the ‘populist candidate’ and will receive the backing of rank-and-file Democrats in the district.

“There is a lot of press about an anti-incumbency movement, the reality is it’s an anti-politician movement,” Jaffe said. As an advocate for 16,000 businesses and representatives in his professional line of work, the West Harrison resident believes he can build consensus and be an independent-minded legislator.

Even with a victory in the primary, Roach will appear on the ballot on the Independence and Working Families lines which may split the left-leaning vote. Jaffe said he was not worried about a three-party race, because Castelli – who ran on the Independence in February’s special election – will be at a disadvantage from having lost that line. “If Bob Castelli expected us to duke it out, I’m sure he’s disappointed…we [Jaffe and Roach] are not duking it out.”

Jaffe, who said he is in favor of a state tax cap, admitted the primary season has been quieter than expected. “It just seems to be the nature of the primary,” he said. “The message we have been getting out still resonates.”

Assemblyman Castelli, for his part, said he has been focused on his work in Albany as the successor to Adam Bradley (D), the embattled pol who became White Plains mayor in January. The primary was not a focus for the assemblyman who had the unenviable task of hitting the campaign trail just weeks after being sworn into office the first time. “They are both worthy candidates and I don’t take them for granted,” Castelli said. “But if people are willing to look at who I am and what I’ve done, I think I should come out just fine…The beauty of being an incumbent is you run on your record, the harm is you have to run on your record.”

In several months in the State Legislature, the assemblyman said he had sponsored over 40 bills and co-sponsored an additional 100. Castelli, who sits as a Republican in a house where Democrats have a super majority, has been pushing for an entire change to the structure of lawmaking. “The dysfunction is such that unless you have a rules change, you will never see enough of a change,” he stated.

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