Nolan vs. Skipper — A Contest for County Legislature’s Lone Republican-Held Seat

Republican Westchester County Legislator James Nolan has reported nearly $38,000 in campaign contributions, about a third from unions, as he seeks reelection against Democrat Kisha Skipper. But an overdue financial disclosure from Skipper’s campaign leaves voters with an incomplete picture of who is financing the contest.

Skipper’s latest available report disclosed about $7,000 in contributions through May. Her campaign had not submitted the pre-general election report due Oct. 2 as of The Ledger’s review Oct. 20.

Skipper says she is working with the Board of Elections to update her filings, blaming the delay on her former campaign treasurer, who resigned in August. The state board did not respond to a request for comment.

Nolan is the only Republican serving on the 17-member Westchester County Board of Legislators. He was first elected in 2021, when he defeated incumbent Ruth Walter (the former publisher of The Ledger). He won reelection in 2023 and ran unopposed in 2025. In the June Democratic primary, Skipper upset Anthony Nicodemo, who had the endorsement of the Westchester County Democratic Committee and the local Democratic committees in Yonkers, Eastchester and Bronxville. Skipper won about 53% of the vote.

There are about 60,000 residents in the district. An estimated 85% of the voters live in Yonkers, 10% in Eastchester and 5% in Bronxville. Based on turnout in contested elections for this seat in 2021 and 2023, between 11,000 and 13,000 voters could cast ballots in November.

James Nolan — Incumbent and sanitation worker

Nolan graduated from Saunders Trades and Technical High School and earned an associate degree in criminal justice from Western Oklahoma State College.

He rose to political prominence after the 2015 fatal shooting of his brother in a Burger King parking lot. Nolan went on to create a foundation in memory of his brother, the Michael Nolan Foundation, which provides scholarships and other assistance to Yonkers residents.

Nolan serves as minority whip on the county legislature and chairs its Small Business Committee. His political support includes Republican and Conservative party organizations and several law enforcement and firefighter unions.

Nolan’s day job is as a sanitation worker in the Yonkers Department of Public Works, and he’s a member of Teamsters Local 456, which has donated to his campaign.

Kisha Skipper — Civil Rights Leader

Skipper is president of the Yonkers Branch of the NAACP and has been active in community organizations, labor leadership and local government. She previously worked as an aide to the Yonkers City Council and as an election technician with the Westchester County Board of Elections.

A graduate of West Virginia State University, Skipper has lived in Westchester for more than 20 years.
 

Nolan’s Strong Union Support

Nolan’s campaign reported raising $37,821 through Sept. 28. His campaign reported spending $49,176 and had $13,430 in cash on hand.

Unions contributed $12,550, accounting for about 33% of his total contributions. His largest labor contributor was his own union, Teamsters Local 456, which gave $3,000. Other major labor contributors included the White Plains Firefighters and New York State Laborers, each of which gave $1,500. The Building and Construction Trades Council and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association each contributed $1,000.

Business and professional donors contributed another $4,233, or about 11% of Nolan’s fundraising. His largest business contributor was NY Enforcement Services Inc., a Briarcliff Manor company that gave $2,500. The Yonkers Owners Association contributed $1,000. Nolan also received substantial contributions from individuals. His largest individual donor was Brandon Downing, who gave $2,400, followed by John Coakley, who contributed $1,800.

The campaign received contributions from 85 individuals. The median amount contributed per person was $100. Contributions totaling $11,202, or 56% of the money from individual donors, came from people reporting Yonkers addresses.

Skipper’s Campaign Finances: An Overdue Filing

The Skipper campaign’s 32-day pre-primary report, originally filed July 14 and updated Aug. 31, disclosed $6,859 in contributions from January through May. Her largest reported individual contributor during that period was Robert Moses, who gave $1,000. Other contributors included Rhonda Fields, who gave $400, and Margaret Coleman, who contributed $397.

The largest business contribution was $1,500 from Yonkers-based Countywide Transportation. The campaign reported contributions from 45 individuals. No union contributions appear in the January-through-May records.

Campaign finance disclosures are intended to provide voters with information about who is financing candidates seeking public office. The absence of a current pre-general election report limits that transparency during the final weeks of the campaign. The goal of the Oct. 2 filing requirement is to provide voters with timely information before the election.

The Ledger will review Skipper’s additional filings when they become available.

Editors used AI tools to collect and analyze campaign finance data and to build the charts. All editing decisions were made by human editors, who checked the results against the candidates’ filings with the State Board of Elections.