On Thursday, more than three weeks after New York held its June 23 Democratic primary, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino conceded defeat to progressive challenger Mimi Rocah. With 41,000 votes tabulated, Rocah, who is a former federal prosecutor, leads Scarpino 68-32. Westchester County is a reliably blue county in most contests and Rocah will be the heavy favorite in November against Republican Bruce Bendish, who lost to Scarpino 70-30 four years ago.
As The Appeal explained before the primary, Scarpino has faced scrutiny over his handling of a scandal involving the police department in Mount Vernon, a suburb of 68,000 right on the Bronx border. Early last year, a Black member of the department, 12-year-veteran Murashea Bovell, provided Scarpino's office with recordings of phone calls that featured an officer accusing one of his colleagues of framing innocent people and using excessive force.
However, no charges have been filed in the ensuing 16 months, and the investigation remains ongoing. Scarpino has argued that the tapes are "nothing but hearsay and uncorroborated" allegations. Rocah retorted: "Those recordings would have lit a fire in my office."
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