Former Rye Councilwoman Julie Killian, a Republican, will take another shot at the state Senate by running for the seat vacated by Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat, earlier this year.
This will mark Killian’s second run at the very same seat for state Senate District 37, which encompasses much of Westchester County’s Sound Shore, after a failed bid to defeat Latimer in 2016.
The position in Westchester’s 37th Senate District has been left open since Jan. 1, and a special election will be held on April 24 after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, set a date last month.
Killian will join a now two-person field of potential Republican nominees that includes former prosecutor Dan Schorr. Bedford attorney Sarmad Khojasteh, announced this week that he would drop out from the race.
Killian’s bid for state Senate was confirmed by a press release sent out by Khojasteh on Feb. 5, which stated that he will endorse Killian for a Republican nomination process slated to take place on Feb. 7, after press time.
“I am ending my campaign today and supporting Julie Killian in this race,” Khojasteh said in a statement on his campaign webpage. “I have spoken with Julie and she has assured me that she will continue to promote policies that help lower and middle-income New Yorkers achieve financial security and upward mobility.”
Killian has served on the Rye City Council since 2012, and in her bid for New York state Senate in 2016, she ran on a platform of political reform in Albany, as well as greater emphasis on combating an opioid epidemic in the county and nationwide.
If given the nomination, Killian would square off against Democratic nominee and state Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, who was chosen to lead the charge for Latimer’s vacant seat during a convention process in January.
Mayer will look to build off of a wave of Democratic wins throughout the county this past November and elsewhere that capitalized on opposition to President Donald Trump, a Republican, and a reinvigorated Democratic votership.
The 37th Senate District encompasses the cities of Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle and Rye; the towns of Eastchester, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Rye, Bedford and North Castle; and the villages of Harrison, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Mamaroneck, Larchmont, Rye Brook and Port Chester.
Killian could not be reached for comment as of press time.
