Michaelis Secures Westchester GOP Endorsement for District 2 Run; Douglas to Make Primary Challenge

Peter Michaelis of Bedford won the Westchester County Republican committee endorsement for county legislator at the Republican convention in Hastings-on-Hudson Tuesday night, beating out fellow

"I never took anything for granted," Michaelis told Patch. "I was thrilled to have the support from the other towns, and glad the votes went my way."

Michaelis —where he had support from Republicans in Bedford, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco and Pound Ridge—and said that he plans to work on supporting county executive Rob Astorino's plans to shrink government and reduce spending.

Ursula LaMotte, former District 2 County Legislator, officially nominated Michaelis at the convention. “In the 40 years that I’ve lived in this county, never have I seen such partisan politics by the leadership of the board," she said. "Good legislation put forth by Rob Astorino to give taxpayers relief and to put our economy back on track has been shot down at every turn by a Democratic majority led by our current Legislator Pete Harckham.”

Michaelis credits his win to his message of "smarter, smaller county government" and his aggressive outreach to Republican Party District Leaders.  “District Leaders are the backbone of the Republican Party," he said in a release following the convention. "They are the volunteers who will stand with you at six in the morning at train stations handing out literature, and they will be with you making calls to voters until nine o’clock at night.  It was important to me to earn their wholehearted support.”

Douglas plans to make a primary challenge for the nomination.

“We need citizen legislators, not someone to reach across the aisle," her campaign stated in a press release regarding a primary challenge.

Now that the convention is over, Michaelis' campaign is focused on opening headquarters at 23 The Parkway in Katonah. Officially open sometime next week (though the sign is already hung above the door) the office will receive petitions Michaelis said that party officials will carry for the next month to obtain signatures to get his name on the ballot in November.

He thinks he can appeal to Douglas supporters. "I think I've made the case that I'm as fiscally responsible as she is and I have a great grasp on the issues. Once the petition process is over, we can focus on how we are going to win the seat," he said.

Michaelis is also pursuing the Conservative and Independence Party nominations.  In 2007, Michaelis ran on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines against Pete Harckham and lost by 365 votes out of the over 11,000 cast.