Harckham Declares Victory In 40th NY Senate District Race

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — State Sen. Pete Harckham has won re-election in the 40th state Senate race, coming from an 8,000-vote deficit after Election Day to be put over the top by absentee ballots.

His opponent, former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, conceded and congratulated Harckham.

"Mr. Astorino called Senator Harckham this morning to congratulate him on his victory and to offer him his support in any way. This was a close, close race, but we respect the will of the voters and wish Senator Harckham the best in his new term," said campaign spokesman William O'Reilly.

The news thrilled Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who announced a historic supermajority for the next term.

"On election night, many wrote us off,” Stewart-Cousins said at a news conference Monday. “They said it was a big red wave and they were already predicting our shrinking majority. And as we know, the red wave turned out to really be more of a red mirage."

It's not official, though. The Westchester Board of Elections still has 16,000 absentee ballots left to count of the more than 25,000 it received.

However, absentee ballots in Westchester have been running overwhelmingly Democratic as they did in Dutchess and even in staunchly Republican Putnam County, where Harckham picked up 4,161 votes and Astorino only picked up 2,608.

In Westchester, Harckham was only 500 votes behind by the time counting stopped Monday.

"I am humbled and grateful for all of the tremendous support I have received during this campaign, and thank all of the voters in Senate District 40 for participating in this historic election," Harckham said. "The confidence and trust that residents have placed in me once again will continue to guide my intentions. These are challenging times, though, and I look forward to being engaged in the hard work necessary to ensure a better future for all."

The 40th Senate District includes Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Peekskill, Pleasantville, Pound Ridge, Sleepy Hollow, Somers and Yorktown in Westchester County; Brewster, Carmel, Patterson and Southeast in Putnam County; and Beekman and Pawling in Dutchess County.