NANUET- Former State Senator and current Democratic nominee for the 38th State Senate district, Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, has lost the Working Families Party primary to Barbara Francis setting up a three-way race in November.
The Rockland County Board of Elections, with all remaining provisional and absentee ballots counted, listed Francis as the victor by a margin of 64 votes. Despite Francis’ victory, Working Families Party leadership has remained steadfast in their endorsement of Reichlin-Melnick’s candidacy.
In what could be a close rematch between incumbent Republican Senator Bill Weber and former Senator Reichlin-Melnick, a three-way race could have a significant impact.
In an email plea obtained by Mid-Hudson News to supporters before the June 25th primary, the Reichlin-Melnick campaign acknowledged the impact a three-way race could have. “In New York, candidates often run on multiple party lines, and Elijah is running on both the Democratic and Working Families lines. In 2022, around 2,600 people voted for Elijah on the Working Families line and in 2020 it was almost 4,600. In a close election, those votes can make the difference.”
The Reichlin-Melnick campaign alleges that Francis has ties to the Republican party and that her candidacy is part of a scheme organized by the Weber campaign to confuse voters as she has no website, no published platform, and has raised no money in her run. They also noted that Francis ran a similar campaign in 2021 in a Working Families Party primary for Clarkstown supervisor. Noting her further ties to the Republican party, they highlighted that Barbara Francis’ husband, Ray Francis, ran as a Republican candidate for Rockland County Legislature in November of last year.
Speaking to his opponent Bill Weber, Reichlin-Melnick said: “Because he has no record to run on, my opponent an his allies are running a phony candidate on the Working Families Party line in the hopes of dividing voters opposed to his candidacy. I am confident that voters will see through this scheme and elect a Senator who actually puts Rockland first and delivers for our county.”
The Weber campaign has denied any involvement in Francis’ candidacy.
In November’s general election Weber is set to appear on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines, Reichlin-Melnick on the Democratic Party line, and Francis on the Working Families line.
Earlier this year, following the surprise announcement that long-time Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski would not seek reelection, Reichlin-Melnick explored dropping his bid for Senate in exchange for running for Assembly. In response, some members of the Rockland County Democratic party penned an open letter to Reichlin-Melnick compelling him to stay in the Senate race.
The letter opened with, “Say it ain’t so, Elijah!” before going on to say, “We were terribly disappointed to learn that you are seriously considering challenging Patrick Carroll in a primary to be the Democratic candidate for the 96th New York State Assembly seat.”
Ultimately, Reichlin-Melnick decided not to challenge Carroll for the nomination and moved forward with his campaign to win back his former seat.
November 2024 will be the third time Weber and Reichlin-Melnick have faced off. In 2020 Reichlin-Melnick defeated Weber by around 10,000 votes, and in 2022 Weber defeated the incumbent in an upset victory by slightly over 3,200 votes.
