Yonkers mayor endorses Lakisha Collins-Bellamy for City Council president

Just hours after the Yonkers Democratic Committee pulled its endorsement of current City Council President Mike Khader, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano weighed in on the race and endorsed Khader's main challenger, Lakisha Collins-Bellamy.

News 12 Staff

Jun 17, 2021, 9:20 PM

Updated 1,287 days ago

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The race for Yonkers City Council president is getting a massive shakeup as early voting continues this week, just days before the primary election.
Just hours after the Yonkers Democratic Committee pulled its endorsement of current City Council President Mike Khader, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano weighed in on the race and endorsed Khader's main challenger, Lakisha Collins-Bellamy.
Khader is now facing a trio of scandals that may hurt his reelection chances in the last days before the primary election.
The committee is accusing his campaign of using voter intimidation and is calling on the district attorney's office to investigate.
The City Council is also calling for an independent city inspector general investigation after an ex-city employee accused Khader of creating a hostile and sexist work environment. He's also accused of getting free rent for an office in exchange for giving a private attorney a city-funded job.
Despite the timing of these announcements, Collins-Bellamy says it's not too late to impact the race.
"Now that the residents of Yonkers know that the support is not behind the incumbent, hopefully they will look at my resume and find the support in me," says Collins-Bellamy.
News 12 reached out to Khader for a comment but hasn’t heard back at this time.
This week, he sued the rest of the City Council, asking a judge to dismiss the investigation and saying the council didn't properly vote for the inquiry at a council meeting.