George Stephen Latimer (born November 22, 1953) is an American politician serving as County Executive of

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

since 2018. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...

, he previously served as a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan compo ...

for the 37th District from 2013 to 2017. Latimer previously served on the

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

city council, in the

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

legislature, and in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assemb ...

. Latimer was elected as the Westchester County Executive in November 2017, defeating Incumbent Republican

Rob Astorino Robert Patrick Astorino (born May 3, 1967) is an American politician, radio producer and television host who was the county executive of Westchester County, New York from 2010 to 2017. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 201 ...

. As of 2021, Latimer has never lost an election in three decades in public office.

Early life

Born in

Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893, making it the ...

, to Stanley and Loretta (née Miner) Latimer, Latimer attended local public schools. He graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in the Bronx in 1974 and received a Master's Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, t ...

's Wagner School in 1976. He worked for two decades as a marketing executive in the hospitality industry for major organizations, including subsidiaries of Nestle and ITT.

Career prior to 2010

Latimer first ran for public office in 1987; he won a seat on the Rye City Council, finishing first in a field of 6 major party candidates. Latimer was elevated in 1991 to the Westchester County Board of Legislators, the first-ever Democrat to win the 7th District seat representing the City of

, Village of Larchmont, and Mamaroneck Town and Village. Latimer was re-elected in 1993, 1995, and 1997; in January 1998, Democrats won a majority of seats in the County Board for the first time in 90 years. Latimer was elected to chair the board, and was the first Democrat ever to do so. He was re-elected to his legislative seat in 1999, and served a second term as chairman from 2000 to 2001. Latimer did not seek a third term as chair in 2002, having been re-elected to a sixth term in the Westchester County Legislature. Westchester County Democrats elected him County Democratic Party Chairman in September 2002, where he served one two-year term. After re-election to the County Legislature in 2003, Latimer sought and won a seat in the

in 2004. In the Assembly, Latimer represented the 91st District, which included the Sound Shore communities of New Rochelle, Rye Brook, and Port Chester alongside the communities of his County Legislative District. He defeated his Republican opponent Vincent Malfetano with over 68% of the vote, carrying each of the district's seven cities, towns and villages. Latimer was re-elected to the Assembly seat without opposition in 2006, and scored 71% of the vote in his 2008 victory over Republican Rob Biagi. Latimer won a fourth Assembly term in 2010, defeating Conservative Republican Bill Reed with 67% of the vote.

New York State Senate

Upon the retirement of Senator

Suzi Oppenheimer Suzanne "Suzi" Oppenheimer (born December 13, 1934) is an American politician from New York, who served from 1985 to 2012 in the New York State Senate. Early life and education Oppenheimer was born on December 13, 1934, in New York City. She att ...

(D) in January 2012, Latimer, a Democrat, ran for the

in the 37th District against Republican Bob Cohen. Latimer prevailed on Election Day. Latimer was re-elected to a second term in November 2014, defeating Republican Joseph L. Dillon. In 2016, Latimer was challenged by Republican

City Council member Julie Killian. Killian's campaign outspent Latimer's by nearly 5-to-1. Latimer won a third term, defeating Killian by 56% to 44%.

Westchester County Executive

In 2017, Latimer challenged incumbent Republican

for Westchester County Executive. During the campaign, Latimer was criticized for missing state budget votes in April 2017 while reportedly vacationing in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

with a woman other than his wife. Astorino called for Latimer to "step down from the state Senate's Education Committee because he missed the state budget vote..." In October 2017, the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' reported that Latimer had "told fellow Democrats he was attending the nited Kingdomtrip with his wife, Robin... The state budget was passed a week after the April 1 deadline this year, and Latimer missed the votes on legislation approving school funding, tax revenues and the capital budget." Latimer accused Astorino of "trying to divert voters' attention — but didn't deny taking the trip"; when asked where he was during the skipped votes, Latimer told reporters that the subject was "not

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially ...

business." The Latimer campaign, in turn, accused Astorino of receiving a sweetheart deal on a

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

watch due to his relationship with a businessman who had pleaded guilty to fraud charges; Latimer's campaign called for Astorino's resignation based on the allegations. Latimer defeated Astorino by 14 points despite being outspent over 3-to-1 by Astorino's campaign. On November 2, 2021, Latimer was re-elected to a second term as county executive. Latimer is considering that he may purchase the land around Pocantico Lake Park to create a new county park.

Electoral results

{, class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" ! colspan="5" , 2017 Westchester County Executive election , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 15em" , Party ! style="width: 10em" , Candidate ! style="width: 5em" , Votes ! style="width: 7em" , Percentage , - ! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Democratic , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 116,834 , align="right" , 53.2% , - ! style="background-color:#CC6699; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Working Families , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 4,034 , align="right" , 1.8% , - ! style="background-color:#800080; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" ,

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the st ...

, ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 2,214 , align="right" , 1.0% , - ! style="background-color:#E0218A; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Women's Equality , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 960 , align="right" , 0.4% , - ! style="background-color:#0F4D92; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Reform , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 231 , align="right" , 0.1% , - ! style="background-color:#B2BEB5; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Total , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 124,273 , align="right" , 56.6% , - ! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Republican , ''Rob Astorino'' , align="right" , 82,929 , align="right" , 37.8% , - ! style="background-color:#FF8C00; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" ,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...

, ''Rob Astorino'' , align="right" , 12,441 , align="right" , 5.7% , - ! style="background-color:#B2BEB5; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Total , ''

'' , align="right" , 95,370 , align="right" , 43.4% , - bgcolor="#EEEEEE" , colspan="3" align="right" , Majority , align="right" , 28,903 , align="right" , 13.2% , - , - bgcolor="#EEEEEE" , colspan="3" align="right" , Totals , align="right" , 219,643 , align="right" , 100.0% , - ! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px" , , colspan="4" , Democratic Gain from Republican {, class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" ! colspan="5" , 2021 Westchester County Executive election , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 15em" , Party ! style="width: 10em" , Candidate ! style="width: 5em" , Votes ! style="width: 7em" , Percentage , - ! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Democratic , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 89,277 , align="right" , 58% , - ! style="background-color:#CC6699; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Working Families , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 5,556 , align="right" , 4% , - ! style="background-color:#B2BEB5; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Total , ''George S. Latimer'' , align="right" , 94,833 , align="right" , 62% , - ! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Republican , ''Christine Sculti'' , align="right" , 56,136 , align="right" , 37% , - ! style="background-color:#FF8C00; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" ,

, ''Christine Sculti'' , align="right" , 1,933 , align="right" , 1% , - ! style="background-color:#B2BEB5; width: 3px" , , style="width: 130px" , Total , ''Christine Sculti'' , align="right" , 58,069 , align="right" , 38% , - , - bgcolor="#EEEEEE" , colspan="3" align="right" , Totals , align="right" , 152,902 , align="right" , 100.0% , - ! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px" , , colspan="4" , Democratic hold

References

External links

New York State Senate website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latimer, George 1953 births Living people Westchester County, New York Executives Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from Mount Vernon, New York Legislators from Westchester County, New York 21st-century American politicians Mount Vernon High School (New York) alumni