Last Westchester County Republican Legislator Switches Party

When I was growing up in Brooklyn-- same neighborhood (and schools) as Bernie-- there were no Republicans anywhere in site. They were all in tony, upscale Westchester north of the City. That's all changed. My old neighborhood is filled with incredibly bigoted and savage Russian immigrants who gave Trump big majorities over Hillary in 2016 and Westchester... well, the last Republican in the county legislature, David Tubiolo, just switched from Republican to Democrat.

Don't get me wrong, Brooklyn is still a Democratic bastion, even if my old neighborhood isn't. Hillary beat Trump in Brooklyn 595,086 (79.7%) to 133,653 (19.9%). Hillary also won in Westchester-- 245,670 (64.9%) to 121,643 (32.1%).

Last week, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News reported that Tubiolo switched his registration to meet the February 14 deadline so that he'd be able to vote in the Democratic primary. (He was also facing a redistricting that will bring more Mt. Vernon Democrats.

“I’m not trying to demonize Republicans,” Tubiolo said. “I’m just saying I feel more comfortable at the moment with the Democratic Party.”

He said he hasn’t decided which of the candidates he’ll vote for, but knows he won’t be voting for President Donald Trump.

...His departure will give Democrats a 16-1 majority on the county Board of Legislators, with only registered Conservative Party member Margaret Cunzio left representing the minority caucus. That marks a major downturn from 2017 when Republicans held the county executive seat and controlled the legislature in a coalition with eight Republican caucus members and two Democrats.

Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2-to-1 in the county and the GOP’s influence has been in fast decline in large part as backlash to the Trump election. Republicans have seen big losses in every year since 2016, while the enrollment gap grows exponentially.

Tubiolo said Trump was one of many factors that fueled his decision. The 32-year-old Yonkers resident lamented the loss of Rockefeller Republicans, a more moderate brand of the party popular in the region for decades and named after former New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

“They slowly disappeared or they got pushed out of the party,” Tubiolo said. “I always viewed myself more of that kind of mold and I don’t feel I have as much of a home anymore.”

The legislator considers himself pro labor and said he's a proponent of student debt and prison reform, which have become issues more at the forefront of the Democratic Party’s agenda. Tubiolo said he understood some of those who supported him as a Republican may be upset by his decision but he said he’d continue to stay true to his principles.

“They might be upset in one aspect but in another aspect I’m still here, I’m still me, I’m still going to do everything I was doing before,” he said. "It’s just I can’t keep going with this national climate with the president at the top."

Tubiolo’s parents are highly influential members of the local Republican Party. His father, Justin Tubiolo, is chairman of the Yonkers city Republicans. His mother was executive director of the county GOP and worked in the administration of former County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican and now CNN analyst known for defending Trump on the air.

Friday, when he changed his registration, he said "To be honest I think everyone saw this happening for two years now. It’s the worst-kept secret in the county I’d say... You can get off the sidelines and help make the change we need in this pivotal moment in our history."

A few months ago Tubiolo publicly blamed Trump for how badly the Westchester Republican Party has been doing. No doubt, Cheri Bustos and the DCCC will soon be knocking on his door, since they always favor Republicans over real Democrats and are always recruiting them to run for Congress.