Dear Editor,
This June, voters will turn out to the polls to decide which District Attorney candidate best reflects the values of the Westchester community.
With two Democratic frontrunners—Susan Cacace and William Wagstaff—and Democrats maintaining a strong registration advantage in the county, it would be easy to assume that either candidate would share the principles of Westchester voters. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.
Susan Cacace is the protege of Trump crusader and FOX News personality Jeanine Pirro, whom she worked under as an Assistant District Attorney. Following Pirro’s path to power, Cacace chose to run for judge on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines—despite the Conservative Party’s extremist positions on gun safety, women’s reproductive freedoms, and the Equal Rights Amendment.
Not once has Judge Cacace given an explanation for running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines.
Concerns about Judge Cacace’s conservative ties are compounded by the fact that she not only accepted campaign funds from Republicans—including PACs—but donated to them as well. Cacace has contributed to local Republican clubs and candidates, including former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who is responsible for gutting funding for community health centers, defunding Planned Parenthood’s successful teen pregnancy prevention program, and opposing gun safety regulations.
Just the other week, a major GOP donor, who defended gun owners as “New York’s Top Firearms Attorney,” held a private fundraiser for Judge Cacace’s DA campaign.
It’s critically important that the next Westchester County District Attorney maintains the highest standard of justice and uses their office to stop the flow of illegal guns into communities like ours. In aligning herself with far-right extremists, Cacace has shown that she doesn’t share the same values as Westchester families, many of whom have spoken out against—or even taken to the street—in opposition of the MAGA agenda.
Already, Judge Cacace chose to skip the first official debate hosted by the County’s preeminent Black-focused news organization, Black Westchester. Many of the city’s most influential civil rights organizations, including the Urban League of Westchester, raised concerns about Cacace’s decision to snub the debate and urged her to reconsider.
Sorraya Sampson, President and CEO of the Urban League of Westchester, said “while we’re pleased to see multiple candidates participating in the debate, it’s regrettable that Judge Cacace has chosen to abstain. This debate is a vital platform for voters to assess all options and make informed decisions.”
If Cacace wanted to set the record straight about her conservative ties, the debate stage would be the place to do it. Refusing to explain her record by skipping the first debate calls into question whether she will be open and accessible as District Attorney.
Most recently, the Cacace campaign took a page out of the GOP playbook by trying to kick William Wagstaff off the ballot. These are the same kinds of voter suppression tactics used by MAGA Republicans on a federal level to undermine our democracy.
The next Westchester District Attorney will have the extraordinary power to make the judicial system more fair and equitable, increase transparency and access to services, and make the office run more effectively and efficiently. Susan Cacace wants us to believe she will bring a new vision to the office. But it’s clear she will only take us backwards.
Sincerely,
Damon Maher
New Rochelle
