Background of Primary Election and the Brass-Knuckle Tactics of the Yonkers Democratic Party
Democrat Leslye Oquendo-Thomas is on a mission to prove the Yonkers Democratic Party wrong. She paid a steep price when she decided to run for county legislator against the Party’s wishes. After she announced her candidacy in February, she was promptly fired from her city job as legislative aide to Council Member Corazon Pineda-Isaac, a position she had held for 12 years. The Yonkers Ledger has followed this story here and here.
Oquendo-Thomas is running in the 17th District, facing the Party’s endorsed candidate – Wilson Terrero.
The primary election is on June 23. Whoever wins it is assured to win the seat because there will be no Republican candidate on the November ballot. The district is so heavily Democratic the Republicans know they don’t stand a chance. Early voting begins on June 13. The League of Women Voters is hosting a candidates forum on June 9th–read more here.
Oquendo-Thomas believes her independence, personal integrity and deep roots in the community will overcome the lack of support from the Party establishment.
Democrat Fired for Running for Office
Oquendo-Thomas says her firing had nothing to do with her job performance, and it was strictly mean-spirited and retaliatory. She asserts it’s up to the voters, not the Party bosses, to decide who should represent the community.
According to Oquendo-Thomas, City Council Majority Leader John Rubbo and the Yonkers Democratic Party leadership were behind the decision to fire her. Rubbo has statutory hiring and firing authority over all Council aides and can supersede the aide’s direct boss. Rubbo fired Oquendo-Thomas even though she worked exclusively for Council Member Corazon Pineda-Isaac, who was happy with Oquendo-Thomas’s performance. Rubbo did not consult with Pineda-Isaac before he made the decision. Read our story here.
Wilson Terrero Picked by the Party
Oquendo-Thomas says that the Party Democrats selected Terrero because he could be controlled. She believes her firing was meant to send a message to all appointed City employees that independence will put their livelihoods at risk.
While Oquendo-Thomas is out of a job, Terrero continues to serve in his Yonkers government position. Oquendo-Thomas suggests that Rubbo fired her to curry favor with the Party, laying the groundwork for a future Mayoral campaign. She questioned why “if [Terrero] is so damn good, the party is afraid of her?”
Oquendo-Thomas is considering suing the City for violating her First Amendment right of free speech, a right that includes running for elected office. But at least for now she intends to seek justice at the ballot box. She’s determined to rise above the vindictiveness she’s faced at the hands of the entrenched leadership.
From the Bronx Projects to Yonkers Via Worldwide Service in the UN
Oquendo-Thomas was raised by a single mom in public housing and on public assistance in the Bronx. She was the only one of four siblings to go to college and then to graduate school.
She studied political science at SUNY Buffalo and after completing an internship at the United Nations she was hired for a full-time position. She speaks Spanish and French fluently. In her interview for the UN, the interviewer surprisingly announced that he would conduct the interview in French. Although initially taken aback, she performed well and was hired on the spot. As a caseworker for the UN, she was assigned to Africa and also worked in Latin America.
After years of heavy travel away from home, she made the difficult decision to leave the UN to focus on family and her children’s education. She was hired as a legislative aide to newly elected City Council Member Pineda-Isaac. Once again, her language skills were very important as she conducted constituent services in all three languages that she speaks.
Oquendo-Thomas lives with her husband and two daughters in Park Hill. At the time of this interview she was also hosting her mom who was in hospice and required around the clock care. Her mom passed away shortly after we spoke. Part of what drives Oquendo-Thomas to run for office is knowing that it would have made her mother proud.
A Focus on Social Services
In Oquendo-Thomas’s district, a majority of the residents are Hispanic, and many receive public assistance. Her childhood on public assistance makes Oquendo-Thomas acutely aware of the difficulties non-native speakers face when they navigate the bureaucracy of the benefits system, which in Yonkers is administered by the County of Westchester’s Department of Social Services. She believes her familiarity with social services is one of her major qualifications for county legislator.
In her city job working in constituent services, she found that helping people secure government benefits was deeply rewarding, and she knows government has the ability to improve people’s lives. If elected she will proudly be a voice for her community. She asserts that she will work for the people and not the interests of those seeking to profit from government.
She is also dedicated to helping working families afford to live in Yonkers and all of Westchester. She sees affordability as one of the most pressing issues facing her community. According to her website:
“[Oquendo-Thomas] is committed to advocate for the best interests of the residents of the 17th district, including REAL affordability in terms of housing, transportation, and higher education. She’ll also advocate for increased economic opportunities so that
residents benefit from the development taking place throughout the city, increase efficiency of county services, such as DSS, and strengthen the Immigration Protection Act.”
Political Strategy
Oquendo-Thomas knows that defeating the establishment candidate will be tough because the Democratic political machine will work against her and that her opponent will have a fundraising advantage.
Still, she believes that her 12-years of working within the community and for the people in her district will overcome this disadvantage. She relishes the underdog role. She notes that Council Member Pineda-Isaac ran without the Democratic Party endorsement but still easily defeated the Party’s endorsed candidate.
Oquendo-Thomas says her Puerto Rican identity and her opponent’s Dominican identity are non-issues in the race. She doesn’t believe there is a political divide between the two ethnic groups in Yonkers. She asserts that she is well known throughout the Hispanic community and expects to receive strong support from women, young people, progressives (she has already secured the Working Families Party line on the ballot in November) and those who are disenchanted with the Yonkers Democratic political machine.
As part of her political network of support, Oquendo-Thomas is also informally aligned with two other candidates who did not receive the Yonkers Democratic Party endorsement: Jeanette Garcia, candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 90th District, and, and Kesha Skipper, candidate for Westchester County Legislator in the 15th District.
She and her political team will be working hard in the district and will have a strong get-out -the-vote effort during early voting and on Election Day.
Is There an Independent Latino Vote?
For voters in Southwest Yonkers, Leslye Oquendo-Thomas’s campaign for county legislator will test whether independently minded, Latino Democrats are ready to challenge the city’s entrenched political structure. She is appealing to those who feel disconnected from machine politics and want a more grassroots and personal style of representation. She is counting on the readiness of the people in her district for political change, and hopes voters recognize that her opponent will not fight for the people like she will, because he is beholden to political insiders who have not always acted in the best interests of the people in the district.
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Oquendo-Thomas is endorsed by the New York Working Families Party, New York Progressive Action Network, Hispanic Democrats of Westchester, and Eleanor’s Legacy.
