The Race for the 40th District New York State Senate Seat is still open. As of Wednesday morning, Rob Astorino, 53, took a narrow lead. 

 

Democrat Peter Harckham, 60, ran against Republican Rob Astorino, 53, for this two-year term position. Both candidates are long-time residents of Westchester, New York. 

 

According to recent polls, Astorino holds a total of 7,453 votes over Harckham. Astorino received 51% of the vote for the Republican nomination, while Harckham received 45% for the Democratic nomination. 

 

Starting in 2008, Harckham, the incumbent, was elected to four two-year terms on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. He chairs the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Additionally, Harckham has worked closely with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, where he worked on the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge Project. 

 

If re-elected, Harckham’s top three priorities for District 40 are to safely open the economy, to work on a merger between the office of mental health and the office of addiction services, and to implement the goals of the COCPA, the “strongest climate protection legislation in the country,” Harckham said. 

 

To alleviate the burden of COVID-19, Harckham has helped multiple food drives, has helped families to connect with unemployment benefits, and has tied small businesses over economically. Harckham said he plans to “invest in infrastructure while creating jobs in the process.” 

 

“If we want to get people back to shopping and back to patronizing businesses, we want to make sure that people feel safe to do so. That’s job number one,” Harckham said.

 

One major issue in this election is the no-cash bail law that Harckham voted in favor of. The no-cash bail law aims to create a fairer system for poor people, who are more likely to get left in jail while awaiting trial. He saidthat it’s “absolutely necessary. This is about fairness and equality.” 

 

Challenger Astorino also shared his top three priorities for District 40. 

 

“People have to get back to work and businesses need confidence to reopen. We need to reduce taxes so people can actually stay here, and we need to repeal the no-cash bail law,” Astorino said.

 

On the contrary to Harckham, Astorino says the no-cash-bail law is dangerous. He believes it has contributed to a spike in crime.

 

Astorino was elected to two four-year terms as Westchester County executive. His public service career also includes the Westchester County Board of Legislators and the Mount Pleasant Town Board. 

 

Before politics, Astorino worked in the media, as an executive producer of ESPN Radio in New York and as a political commentator on CNN. 

 

In order to relieve New York of the pandemic, Astorino plans to get the Legislature involved again.

 

“They completely abdicated their responsibilities in that they gave the governor extraordinary powers back in March.”

 

If elected, Astorino has big economic plans for District 40. “The state doesn’t need to just be reopen; it needs to be rebuilt.”

 

While Harckham believes federal funding should be given to New York in order to aid loss of sales tax revenue economic shutdown, Astorino believes that New York would “screw it up somehow.”

 

Instead, he believes federal funding should go directly to nursing homes, hospitals, and businesses to help them during the pandemic. 

 

According to the New York Board of Elections website, Harckham had $1,152,891.26 in contributions while Astorino, the challenger, had $1,729,991.99 for this race, as of October 27th. 

 

This position for District 40 New York Senator has an annual salary of $110,000.