Votes Counted: Brakewood Wins Primary

More than 48 hours after polls closed Tuesday night, all the votes are finally tallied: Daniel Brakewood is the Democratic nominee for county legislature District 6.

Brakewood, a current Port Chester trustee, defeated opponent Mark Jaffe by a margin of 94 votes, according to unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections.

With the primary win, Brakewood will face Republican David Gelfarb, a Rye Town councilman, in the general election for the District 6 seat. Longtime county Legislator Marty Rogowsky, a Democrat, announced his retirement earlier this year after a total of 13 years as a county representative.

Brakewood, who considers himself "a very centrist Democrat," said he's confident he can win over Republican voters with his plans to "bring efficiency and effectiveness" to a county government seen by many as bloated and hamstrung by politics.

It was the third time Brakewood has run for public office, and the third time the Board of Elections has brought him good news. Brakewood won a seat on Port Chester's Board of Trustees in 2006.

He served an extended term when the Department of Justice put a temporary hiatus on local elections in Port Chester, and was re-elected in the historic 2010 trustee race, the first time Port Chester residents casted ballots under the federally-mandated cumulative voting system.

Brakewood credits his experience in Port Chester and record as an elected official as reasons voters selected him in Tuesday's primary.

"They looked at my message, my qualifications, and the ability to really deliver on what I'm promising," he said.

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