New Westchester law requires political candidates to disclose their history prior to running

Westchester County Executive George Latimer signed into law the Truthful Disclosure bill, which requires candidates to certify information, including all of their legal names, jobs they have held in the past 10 years and education history.

Jonathan Gordon and News 12 Staff

Mar 31, 2023, 12:37 AM

Updated 554 days ago

Share:

Anyone who runs for Westchester county executive or legislator will now be required to disclose their professional history and make that information available to voters well before Election Day.
County Executive George Latimer signed into law Thursday the Truthful Disclosure bill, which requires candidates to certify information, including all of their legal names, jobs they have held in the past 10 years and education history.
The county Legislature took up the bill in January after embattled Long Island Rep. George Santos was found to have lied about most of his credentials to mislead voters during last November's election.
He had already taken his oath of office by the time voters and politicians began calling for his resignation, which he has, so far, refused to do.
Latimer said the county has never faced anything like that and hopes this law ensures that stays the case.
"You'd be a fool to lie on this form and we won't need to have any kind of in-depth study because people will realize that on this form you better tell the truth," Latimer said.
Any candidate who runs for one of the 17 open legislator seats must file one of these new forms, starting this spring ahead of any June primaries.