Westchester County primaries: Thomas wins in Mount Vernon

A major upset in the Mount Vernon mayor's race topped primary results from around Westchester County on Thursday.

City Councilman Richard Thomas declared victory over incumbent Ernie Davis in the crowded Democratic primary for the city's top job.

Speaking to supporters at his campaign headquarters on Thursday, Thomas called his victory a "mandate."

"Mount Vernon must rise again," he said. "I'm appealing to Mount Vernon to concentrate on what's next."

Thomas, 32, defeated the embattled Davis 2,860 votes to 1,887 votes, with 100 percent of districts reporting. Also running were state Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, who received 1,384 votes; Comptroller Maureen Walker, with 1,020 votes; and former Mayor Clinton Young, with 454 votes.

Davis is on probation after pleading guilty to federal tax-evasion charges. A community activist unsuccessfully tried to remove him from the ballot due to the conviction after Thomas had earlier called for the mayor to resign.

Davis, 76, served four terms from 1996-2007. He was voted out in favor of Young but returned four years later.

Westchester surrogate judge: Sall beats Streng 

Vote tallies: Selected primaries in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam

Westchester: All primary totals (Board of Elections)

Putnam DA: Tendy wins GOP primary

Rockland primaries: Fonvil, McGill win in Spring Valley

Blog: Politics on the Hudson

Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city by a wide margin and the primary victor is likely to go on to win the general election Nov. 3, but it won't be an uncontested path. Councilwoman Deborah Reynolds is running on the Conservative Party line, Hassell-Thompson on the Working Families line. Thomas, who will also appear on the Republican and Independence lines, urged the others to defer to the primary results and step out of the race.

The mayor serves a four-year term and is paid $143,000 a year.

Five candidates were vying for two spots on the Democratic line for City Council: Lisa A. Copeland and Andre Wallace won a Democratic primary for two open council seats with 3,483 and 2,226 votes, respectively, and were trailed by Delia Farquharson, with 2,008 votes, John Boykin with 1,901 and Diane R. Munro with 1,463. Council members are paid $33,000 a year.

The city also has a Democratic primary for judge, with Adrian Armstrong garnering only 5 more votes than Tamika Coverdale, 2,531 to 2,526. Linda Morris had 1,708.

Harrison:

Supervisor Ron Belmont, a former recreation supervisor and four-year incumbent, easily beat Republican primary challenger and former Supervisor Phil Marraccini, who served four years as supervisor in the 1990s. Belmont received 1,104 votes compared to 281 for Marraccini. The town is considered a Republican stronghold and GOP-backed candidates occupy the supervisor's office, all four council seats as well as the elected clerk and receiver of taxes. The supervisor serves a two-year term at an annual salary of $155,376.

Democrat Elizabeth Schaper is running in the general election.

In the race for the GOP line for two town judge seats, Councilman Joseph Cannella and Pasquale Gizzo ousted incumbents Nelson Canter and Marc Lust (who is endorsed by the Democratic Party). Cannella received 782 votes, Gizzo 622, Canter 537 and Lust 458. Gizzo and Cannella defeated Canter in a Conservative Party primary as well. Gizzo received 75 votes, Cannella 74 and Canter 57.

New Rochelle: Challenger Liz Fried declared victory over City Council District 6 incumbent Shari Rackman, receiving 489 votes to Rackman's 239. Fried received the local party's endorsement and backing of Democratic party leaders. Rackman had clashed with Mayor Noam Bramson over a redevelopment plan for the Echo Bay area, which ultimately failed to pass the City Council with only the mayor voting in favor.

"This vote sends a strong message that we need to work together to move New Rochelle forward," Fried said in a statement.

Westchester County Board of Legislators: Yonkers Democrat Ken Jenkins, the former board chairman, secured a commanding win over primary challenger Nicole Benjamin-Horsford in the District 16 (Yonkers) Democratic primary. He received 979 votes to her 631.

In a primary for the District 17 seat in Yonkers, Legislator Virginia Perez was victorious by a count of 625-551 over Democratic challenger Piedad Abreu.

Perez is one of two Democrats who joined a coalition majority that took control of the board in 2014 with the seven Republican legislators on the 17-member legislature. Legislators serve two-year terms at a base salary of $49,200.

Yonkers: Councilman Chris Johnson, who represents District 1, beat challenger Ivy Reeves in a Democratic primary, 640-385 votes. Council members are paid $37,905 annually.

Staff writers Matt Coyne and Mike D'Onofrio contributed to this report.

Twitter: @marklungariello