Government & Politics

Astorino Leads Harckham in 40th State Senate District Race

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Dem. Pete Harckham (left) trails Republican Rob Astorino (right)

November 5, 2020

By Rick Pezzullo–

Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino leads incumbent State Senator Pete Harckham in the 40^th Senate District, but the race is far from being decided.

Following Election Night tallies in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, Astorino, a Republican from Mt. Pleasant, holds about a 7,400-vote advantage over Harckham, a Democrat from Mt. Kisco.

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However, there remains at least 35,000 absentee ballots to be counted, about 20,000 of which are reportedly from Democrats and 8,000 from independents or smaller parties. Absentee ballots can be received as late as November 10 if they were postmarked by November 3. Counting will likely take place by the end of next week.

The 40^th State Senate District covers the villages of Sleepy Hollow, Pleasantville, Briarcliff Manor, Croton-on-Hudson and Buchanan, the town/village of Mount Kisco, the towns of Cortlandt, Lewisboro, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers and Yorktown, the City of Peekskill, and parts of Putnam and Dutchess counties.

The Senate position carries with it an annual salary of $120,000.

According to the Westchester County Board of Elections, Harckham outperformed Astorino in the county, 45,881 (52%) to 42,196 (48%).

It was a different story in Putnam, where Astorino dominated Harckham, 17,535 (66%) to 9,135 (34%). Astorino also won in Dutchess, 6,011 to 3,265.

Harckham is seeking a second two-year term, while Astorino is trying to make a political comeback following an eight-year stint as county executive (2010-2017). He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014.

Two years ago, Harckham became the first Democrat to serve the district since 1914 after ousting Republican Terrence Murphy.

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