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Belmont Easily Wins Republican Party Primary For Harrison Mayor/Supervisor

HARRISON, N.Y. -- First-term Harrison Supervisor/Mayor Ron Belmont fended off a challenge for the Republican Party candidacy in Thursday's primary election.

Four of every five Harrison voters backed incumbent Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Ronald Belmont over his Republican challenger Philip Marraccini in Thursday's primary election. Belmont faces Democrat Elizabeth Schaper in the Nov. 3 general election.

Four of every five Harrison voters backed incumbent Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Ronald Belmont over his Republican challenger Philip Marraccini in Thursday's primary election. Belmont faces Democrat Elizabeth Schaper in the Nov. 3 general election.

Photo Credit: File Photo
Republican Philip Marracini, who served as Harrison mayor/supervisor from 1994-97, lost on Thursday to incumbent Mayor Ronald Belmont in a primary runoff. Both candidates sought votes on the Conservative and Independent party lines.

Republican Philip Marracini, who served as Harrison mayor/supervisor from 1994-97, lost on Thursday to incumbent Mayor Ronald Belmont in a primary runoff. Both candidates sought votes on the Conservative and Independent party lines.

Photo Credit: File photo

According to unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections, Belmont received 80 percent of all votes in the primary runoff against Philip Marraccini, a former two-term supervisor/mayor in the 1990s.

Belmont received 1,104 votes, and Marraccini received 287 votes, according to the county Board of Elections.

It marked Harrison's first primary election for mayor/town supervisor in at least half a century,.

If declared the winner, Belmont, who formerly served as Harrison's director of Parks and Recreation for 35 years, would face Democrat Elizabeth Schaper in the Nov. 3 general election. 

Despite his apparent loss as a Republican Party candidate, Marraccini still got his name on the Nov. 3 general election ballot by winning a primary election on the Independent Party line.

Belmont is a non-affiliated voter, but was the town Republican Party's endorsed candidate. 

Belmont also won primary voter support to have his name appear on the Conservative Party ballot line on Nov. 3.

The town supervisor/village mayor serves a two-year term for an annual salary of $155,376.

Both candidates are well-known to Harrison residents: Marraccini's brother, Anthony, is longtime police chief in Harrison.

Belmont, 58, already ranks among the best-known supervisors in Westchester due to his knack for appearing at numerous public events. (He arrives at ribbon-cutting ceremonies equipped with his own giant pair of scissors.)

Marraccini, 64, served as mayor/supervisor from 1994-98. Marraccini, an attorney, said during his campaign that Harrison should be spending money on infrastructure projects -- such as road paving or public parking -- instead of borrowing for downtown flower boxes, sidewalks and other landscaping.

Belmont pointed to Harrison's economic turnaround during his tenure, with extensive redevelopment along Westchester Avenue's so-called "Medical Mile,'' and with a large mixed-use housing/retail project planned next to the village's Metro-North railroad station, among other projects. The village also has been sprucing up its retail landscapes, parks and renovated its main public library.

In a close primary race between Independent Party Candidates for Harrison Town Council, Mark S. Jaffe was the unofficial leader over Michael J. Daher.

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