New Rochelle City Council District 3 was created by court order in 1993 to protect the rights of voters, pursuant to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Prior to this court decree, all four Council members and the Mayor were elected in “at-large,” citywide elections, and no non-white person had been elected to any of these positions in decades.  District 3 was designed to guarantee representation for Black/African American residents of New Rochelle who, at the time of the lawsuit, made up 18% of the citywide population.

Fast-forward to 2023. District 3 has more candidates for City Council than ever before, with four candidates competing for endorsement by the Democratic Party.  The candidates are David Peters, Kwamaine Dixon, Margaret Chadwick, and Lianne Merchant.  Peters ran against now Councilwoman Yadira Ramos-Herbert for the District 3 seat in 2019.  Ramos-Herbert is now running for Mayor.  With so many candidates in this election cycle, some residents wonder what is the best strategy to elect a candidate who will represent the economic and political interests of the legacy Black community of District 3.  

On Wednesday, February 8th, every candidate had the opportunity to speak at a candidates forum hosted by Democratic District Leaders.  All of the candidates except Merchant participated in the forum.  

Dixon, a lifelong resident of District 3, is a member of the African-American Advisory Committee, President of the Lincoln Avenue School Attendance Zone Parent-Teacher-Student Association, and has announced that the focus of his campaign is unity and collaborative problem-solving in District 3.  

Peters, a current member of the Board of Education, is known for co-founding the advocacy group New Rochelle Against Racism (New RoAR) and for his leadership in centering equity in New Rochelle.  The focus of his campaign is turning the city’s attention to developing its people with the same focus it has recently dedicated to developing its land. 

Chadwick is also a lifelong resident, president of the Rochelle Heights Tennis Club, and active in the city in a number of ways.  Despite the racial equity goals associated with the creation of District 3, Chadwick, who identifies as white, is focusing her campaign on being attentive to residents’ concerns, and making sure District 3 receives its fair share of funding and attention from the City.  

Though she was absent from the February 8 forum, Merchant, who served on the Library Board of Trustees and the Board of Education, has announced a platform that centers real estate development as an economic engine for District 3.  

The race for District 3 raises a number of questions, including:

• With a record number of candidates for city council, will voter turnout in District 3 soar as a result?  
• Will candidates put their heads together to create a unified strategy benefitting the legacy residents of District 3, or will too many choices dilute the race and allow a less popular candidate to win?  

The Democratic Party will select its candidates for all the districts and the mayor at its convention on February 16th.  Whether chosen by the party or not, all the candidates who submit the required number of signatures to the Westchester County Board of Elections will be on the ballot in the primary election in June.