In last night’s meeting, the Westchester Board of Legislators (BOL) voted to elevate Vedat Gashi (D) to chair of that body. By a unanimous vote, he replaces Catherine Borgia after her resignation last month.
Borgia’s resignation came fast after revelations that her office mishandled accusations that her staffer committed child sex crimes. In December 2022, the board was made aware that legislative aide Anand Singh was caught in an amateur “to catch a predator” style sting soliciting sex from a minor. Through investigative reporting by The Yonkers Ledger, the constant drip that Borgia knew–and potentially disregarded–the seriousness of these accusations led the board to call for her resignation. Borgia resigned just minutes before the board assembled to vote her out. Per the rules, Vice-Chair Nancy Barr acted as interim Chair until last night’s vote. There is currently an investigation by the Westchester District Attorney into the board’s handling of this situation and Anand Singh has been federally indicted.
Vedat Gashi represents the 4th legislative district of the Westchester County BOL. This district represents Yorktown, New Castle, and Somers. Born in Kosovo, Gashi emigrated to the US at the age of 4, studied law, and eventually interned with now-US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. He was first elected to the Westchester BOL in 2019, succeeding longtime legislator Michael Kaplowitz who retired after 22 years of service. He is now the first legislator of Muslim faith to serve as Chair.
A moderate Democrat, Gashi challenged first-term US House Representative Jamaal Bowman in 2022. In this three-way primary race for the newly-drawn congressional district 16, Bowman won 60% of the vote to Gashi’s 23%. However, much of the press in that race centered around political mailers sent by Gashi’s campaign. The mailer appeared to have darkened Bowman’s skin tone–implying a racial animus. This faux pas naturally ruffled the feathers of many in the local progressive community who ardently support Bowman.
However, despite Gashi’s lack of left-wing support, he now leads the 15 Democrats in the 17 seat Board of Legislators of Westchester County. He will serve in this office until at least January 2024, when a new board will be seated after this year’s elections.
