The race for Putnam County's top office has taken a twist with the late entry of a third-party candidate who will likely draw votes from the Republican incumbent and may help the Democrat as a result.
County Executive Kevin Byrne was set to face Democrat Brett Yarris in the Nov. 3 election, but now has a second challenger as well thanks to the county's Conservative Party. The party — usually a reliable Republican ally in New York elections — backed Byrne in his 2022 run but this time put up a right-wing activist as its own contender in what is now a three-way race.
The party's endorsement of Tatiana Brahimi on Aug. 14 highlighted its split with Byrne and may have given Democrats a boost in a county Republicans have long dominated. No Democrat has
been elected county executive in Putnam since the first person to hold that position won a second term in 1982 — a 44-year drought.
Adding intrigue to the situation, Byrne blasted the endorsement in a lengthy statement that called Brahimi "grossly unqualified" and suggested local Democratic and Conservative leaders had forged an unlikely alliance to unseat him and elect Yarris. Leaders of both parties have dismissed his allegations of a "dirty backroom deal" as absurd and untrue.
"If that were the case, we would have endorsed Brett Yarris," William Spain Jr., Putnam's Conservative Party chairman, told the USA TODAY Network in an interview on Thursday, Aug. 20. "We're running a true Conservative Party candidate."
The three are competing for a four-year term in a position that pays $181,000 a year and involves overseeing the county workforce and a $229 million budget.
Republicans hold a slight enrollment edge over Democrats in Putnam, a Hudson Valley county of about 99,000. Eight of its nine county legislators are Republicans; three of those seats are up for election on Nov. 3, along with the county executive and clerk's offices.
Who is running for Putnam County executive?
Byrne, 41, is a former three-term state assemblyman who ran unopposed for county executive in 2022, with no Democrat seeking what was then an open office. He succeeded MaryEllen Odell, a Republican who had held the office since 2011 and stepped aside due to the county's two-term limit.
Yarris, the Democrat challenging Byrne on Nov. 3. is founder and CEO of a Westchester County-based company that helps people with special needs. His background is in special education and behavior science, and he previously was a co-founder of the sports media company Pro Football Network.
Brahimi, who also uses the last name Ibrahim, made a splash on conservative media outlets in 2021 after making a fiery speech at a Carmel school board meeting to denounce diversity policies she blamed on critical race theory. She is a registered Conservative Party member and is known for her heated rhetoric at school board meetings and online.
In an Aug. 16 Facebook post, Brahimi scorned Byrne as "a big government Tax & Hoarder" and Yarris for his "support for BLM," referring to the Black Lives Matter movement. She proclaimed her conservative beliefs —"LOWER TAXES. LESS GOVERNMENT. LAW AND ORDER. SUPPORTING ICE. PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES. AND PUTTING PUTNAM TAXPAYERS FIRST" — and vented about criticism that she could act as a spoiler by pulling votes from a Republican.
"And please don't lecture me about "splitting the vote," she wrote. "If you're worried about splitting the vote, maybe you should vote for candidates who actually EARN your votes!"
In his statement denouncing Brahimi's endorsement, Byrne defended his support for "conservative, limited-government principles" and said voters will decide the election's outcome, not party leaders. He also claimed a Democratic-Conservative deal had been hatched that entailed keeping the county attorney — who happens to be the brother of the Conservative chairman — in his job in a Democratic administration.
"This appears to be the latest attempt to split the conservative vote and ultimately surrender Putnam County to the same radical political forces that have seized control of New York City," Byrne wrote.
What to know about Putnam executive race
Both Spain and Jen Colamonico, the county's Democratic chairperson, flatly denied Byrne's allegation that Colamonico privately approached County Attorney Compton Spain about keeping his job in exchange for Conservative support. Both said Colamonico had never even met the county attorney.
"This is completely untrue," Colamonico said in a statement. "Either someone fed him incorrect information or he is grasping at straws to rationalize this shocking development," meaning the Conservative endorsement of Brahimi.
Brahimi joined the race long after candidates filed petitions because the Conservative Party substituted her for its original candidate — the chairman himself. Spain had petitioned to run in March with the intent of later ceding the ballot line to a genuine candidate. He was able to vacate that line by getting tapped to run in a state judicial race — a maneuver used in New York elections for last-minute ballot switches.
Brahimi, 50, told the USA TODAY Network she is retired from a career in the financial services industry and worked for a year in the guidance office at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County.
Spain said in an interview that both Byrne and Yarris sought his party's endorsement in April and were denied it. He said his party had soured on Byrne for leading an administration of "tax-and-spend liberals" and being too cozy with Democrats and too quiet on conservative causes.
"The people we talk to are dissatisfied with Kevin Byrne because he stands for nothing," Spain said.
Byrne didn't respond to requests for comment.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA TODAY Network. Reach him at CMcKenna@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Putnam County executive race shook up by entry of third candidate
