Westchester campaign committee rules against O’Keefe in Gashi complaints

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. —The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee ruled against Republican Kevin O’Keefe in complaints filed by incumbent Democrat Vedat Gashi — both candidates for Westchester County Legislator District 4 — the panel said Friday (Oct. 31).

Panel members met via Zoom on Oct. 30 to review the complaints. O’Keefe did not attend, send a representative, or respond in writing, according to the committee. 

In an email to Halston Media on Nov. 4, Election Day, O'Keefe said "by virtue of the fact that there is only one Republican on the The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee, the group is anything but fair.

He called the committee "an unofficial entity masquerading as a nonpartisan governing body.

"The FCPC is theater and nothing more," he said.

Four campaign statements were found to be misleading or false. These included O'Keefe's use of the title “Westchester County Legislator – District 4” in campaign text messages, a claim on O’Keefe’s website that Gashi is the highest-paid county legislator in New York State, and two mailer statements regarding Gashi’s positions on Indian Point and a proposed battery storage facility near Somers.

All four complaints were ruled “unfair campaign practice.”

In the claims about Gashi’s salary, the committee found the statement false and said it was “evidenced by publicly available salary data for county legislators in New York State.”

Regarding Indian Point, the committee found the statement to be false, noting there was no evidence that Gashi supported the plant’s closure. It further emphasized that the shutdown was a state decision made in 2017 — three years before Gashi took office — and not a Westchester County action.

Gashi said O’Keefe misled voters in a campaign mailer sent around Oct. 10 that claimed he “stayed silent” on a proposed battery storage facility near Somers and “never stood with our community.” The committee found the claim to be false and said Gashi had publicly addressed the issue several times, including in a letter to the Carmel Planning Board outlining his concerns and in an interview on News12.

Committee members cited Fair Campaign Practices Committee principles requiring candidates to avoid misrepresenting facts or creating false impressions in campaign materials.

The full findings are available online at faircampaignpractices.org/findings for readers who wish to review them.

This story was updated at 12:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4 to include a response from Kevin O'Keefe.