Port Chester Rep. Drops Out of Trustee Race

Within hours of being nominated to run for a Port Chester village Board of Trustees seat, a Republican political newcomer has withdrawn from the race.

The decision by Jing Xie, who had accepted the GOP nomination at a caucus on Tuesday night, was made to improve the chances of the three other Republican candidates in the trustees race, according to Port Chester Republican chairman Joseph Kenner, who is also a village trustee seeking re-election.

Kenner said Xie called him Wednesday morning to withdraw his nomination because “with cumulative voting in place, we will have a better chance of winning with three candidates versus four."

“As the Chairman of the Port Chester Republican Party Committee, I regret that the people of Port Chester will not have the benefit of experiencing Jing Xie’s intelligence, energy and great vision for this village in this race," Kenner said.  "But don’t think for a minute that this party is going to let a talented professional like Jing slip away. Last night the people saw in Jing all of the positive qualities that are sorely missing in our elected officials. He truly inspired the crowd and lifted our spirits.  Jing is going to be an integral part of this campaign, and if I have anything to do with it, you have not seen the last of Jing Xie.”

Xie is a finance and strategic planning professional at IBM in Somers. He moved to Port Chester six months ago.

Port Chester Republicans at Tuesday's caucus backed Port Chester Industrial Development Agency chairman Neil Pagano for mayor, with Republicans Saverio Terenzi and Kenner for Trustee, and 20-year resident and registered Democrat Frank Ferrara for trustee.