Jenkins easily bests Sculti for county executive

Ken Jenkins

By JEFF MORRIS

Unofficial results show incumbent Ken Jenkins easily fending off a challenge from Christine Sculti, 64 percent to 36 percent, in Tuesday’s special election for Westchester County Executive.

With all districts counted, Jenkins had 57,590 votes to Sculti’s 32,956.

Sculti conceded to Jenkins Tuesday night, and Jenkins received congratulations from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was present at his victory party.

In early voting, which ran from Feb. 1 to Feb. 9 at a limited number of sites, there were 17,904 votes for Jenkins and 8,085 for Sculti. These were added to Tuesday’s totals.

The contest was made necessary by former County Executive George Latimer’s election to Congress in November, representing the 16th Congressional District. Jenkins served as deputy county executive for eight years, and in January was appointed by the Westchester County Board of Legislators to fill the seat vacated by Latimer until the special election.

Jenkins was then nominated by the county Democratic Party to run as its candidate in the special election, while Sculti was nominated by the county Republican Party. In addition to his time as deputy under Latimer, Jenkins earlier spent 11 years on the Board of Legislators, with four years as chair. Sculti was chief advisor to former County Executive Rob Astorino, and is currently executive assistant to the commissioner of the Westchester County Board of Elections.

The purpose of this election was to fill the remaining months in Latimer’s term, which runs until the end of December; there will be another election in November for a full four-year term.

This was Sculti’s second run for county executive. In 2021, she was defeated by Latimer, 103,608, or 62 percent, to 62,234, or 38 percent.

On Feb. 10, President Donald Trump posted an endorsement of Sculti on his Truth Social site, in which he said, “Democrats have made Westchester County a ‘Sanctuary County’ protecting criminal illegals!” and called for a massive Republican turnout. The endorsement was heavily promoted by Sculti’s campaign. Nonetheless, her percentage of the vote was actually lower this time than it was in 2021.

Sculti could make a third attempt to become Westchester’s first woman county executive in November, when the election for a full term is held; both she and Jenkins have reportedly said they plan to run again. Meanwhile, Jenkins is the first Black person to serve as Westchester County Executive.