White Plains Attorney to Run For 89th Assembly Seat

Running on a platform promising to "restore prosperity to Westchester", White Plains Democrat Jeremiah Frei-Pearson has announced his candidacy for the 89th Assembly District seat occupied by Republican Robert Castelli.

Frei-Pearson, 33, is the first Democrat to officially announce his candidacy. Castelli is finishing his first full term as the 89th Assembly District representative. The Republican first won the seat with a in 2010, then later that year.

A public interest attorney for White Plains law firm of Meiselman, Denlea, Packman & Eberz, Frei-Pearson said he plans to represent the district with a strong stance against unfunded mandates and hydrofracking, while supporting marriage equality and a women's right to choose.

After spending the majority of his career fighting large government interests in the courtroom, Frei-Pearson said he hopes to bring his experience to the fight against special interest groups and government policies that he says have brought property tax increases and other problems to Westchester County.

"There is a lot about our state government that needs reform," said Frei-Pearson. "You need to be willing to fight for what's right and fight for opportunity, and to not be afraid to take on government interests so we can make the tough choices that we need to make to make our government work better."

To achieve his goals, Frei-Pearson offered the following six steps he says will restore opportunity to Westchester County:

• Help cut local taxes by reducing unfunded mandates from Albany.
• Work every day to create jobs in our community and support local businesses.
• Protect our environment and drinking water by standing firmly against unsafe hydrofracking.
• Support marriage equality and a woman’s right to choose.
• Fight to reform our government by implementing meaningful campaign finance reform.
• Ensure that Westchester continues to be a great place to raise children by supporting public schools, parks and playgrounds and projects such as Muscoot Farm and the Westchester Children’s Museum.

Frei-Pearson said he hopes his stance will restore Westchester to the prominence he enjoyed while growing up in Lewisboro, Mt. Kisco and Bedford Hills. He added that the area's great schools and programs gave him and his wife, Karla, a Fox Lane High School graduate, every chance to succeed—something he will fight to maintain for future generations.

"It gave me so many opportunities as a child, and gave so many opportunities to people in my family, and I worry the way things are going that the next generation of kids aren't going to have the opportunities that I have and that my parents aren't going to have the same support as folks had when I was growing up," said Frei-Pearson.

If he receives the Democratic nomination, Frei-Pearson will take on Castelli this November in what will be Castelli's third election in less than three years. Although the Republican has built a reputation with local lawmakers for his efforts to reach across party lines during his first full term, Frei-Pearson said he views Castelli as more conservative than most people think.

He points to Castelli's votes against marriage equality as a starting point, saying he would never support a conservative stance like that in what is a mostly Democratic district.

"He paints himself as a moderate, but when you actually look at his record he is fairly conservative," said Frei-Pearson.

Outside of a brief run at public office in Queens and an internship while attending Skidmore College, Frei-Pearson said he doesn't have any official political experience and this will be his first full race for an elected position.

Viewing this as a positive, he said it is important that voters support candidates who have a proven history of standing up for political change and progress, rather than experience in the political realm. He said he hopes to use his strengths to make Westchester County a better place to live.

"This community is an amazing place, and I've spent my entire life fighting to make government work better on behalf of regular people," said Frei-Pearson. "I want to make sure that this community continues to be an amazing place."