City Council Race Goes to Hand Recount After Contentious Campaign

An unexpected primary challenge for the Yonkers City Council district 5 race faces a mandatory hand recount after only 13 votes separate the candidates.

Three-term Republican city council member Mike Breen launched his re-election campaign to represent the fifth district after voting to extend his own term limits in November 2022. Many in the city challenged this extension with a lawsuit and petition for a voter referendum. And one constituent of Breen’s, Ron Schutté, decided to run for office for the first time in protest.

The surprise of Schutté’s entrance in the race was compounded by the expectation that Ron Matten would be the challenger. Matten stood back despite winning a redistricting battle that almost excised him from the district altogether. However, he still became a volatile element in this race as Breen’s most vocal critic both online and on the street.

Too close to call

The four primary races in Yonkers on Tuesday June 27^th saw two undisputed landslides and two races that were initially too close to call. While, the first district city council race appears headed to certification with a 25 vote margin of victory, only 13 votes separate Breen and Schutté. This is a 2% margin in the 1,181-vote race. By New York State law, this sub-20 vote difference triggers a mandatory hand recount.

The recount will occur next week, led by the Westchester Board of Elections under strict rules. Each ballot will be reviewed by a panel of election workers under the supervision of both the Republican and Democratic commissioners. Each campaign is invited to send an observer to monitor this process. Objections may be raised, and disputes are settled by the commissioners.

One such dispute may be deciding the winner of an “overvote.” Overvotes occur when there are multiple markings on a ballot. It is the duty of the panel to determine the voter’s intent as the machine scanner cannot.

Depending on how many objections are raised, the recount process for these roughly 1,100 votes should be complete within a single day. The completion of this manual recount then allows for final certification of the election results.

Confidence and concern

The incumbent candidate, Mike Breen, is sure that his 13 vote lead provides enough cushion to weather a recount. In response to our request, he stated, “I’m confident that […] I have won the Republican Primary for the 5th Council District. I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue the work I have committed to over my time in office.”

However, challenger Ron Schutté expressed concerns over absentee ballots which comprise part of Breen’s lead. “Although the election audit process appears to be quite comprehensive, the new absentee ballot process where signatures are not validated and envelopes are separated from the ballots leaves room for suspicion, ” said Schutté.

While a 13 vote difference is minuscule, hand recounts rarely sway the results of any election. But, regardless of the winner, the margin alone should remind all 5,800 GOP-registered voters in the fifth district to not sit out any election.