You may have missed this one, but there was a major Democratic upset in Mt. Vernon yesterday, where one of the longest-serving black mayors in the state, Ernest Davis, lost his bid for a fourth term to insurgent County Legislator Clinton Young, 48 to 52 percent.
Davis was dogged by stories of fiscal mismanagement while trying to run for an always-hard-to-achieve fourth term. While Davis was endorsed by Lt. Governor David Paterson, Young grabbed the support of local hero and movie star-activist Denzel Washington.
Also, Serapher Halevi, the head of the Mt. Vernon Democratic Party who was running on Davis’ slate, lost her bid to fill Young’s legislative seat.
Mt. Vernon is the third fifth-largest city in New York and is a significant power base for black politics outside New York City (along with Rochester, Hempstead and Buffalo). So expect to see some new-kid-on-the-block profiles of Young soon.
