When a constituent opens Ruth Walter’s door, she is immediately engaging. She introduces herself and talks about the issues that she is working on that impact this particular constituent. If this constituent is a senior citizen, she will talk about how she helped add a million dollars to the 2021 capital budget so that the county can build Senior Fitness Parks. If this constituent lives on a street that Walter thinks should be repaved, she asks if they are having problems with potholes. Ruth outlines how a road gets repaved. “It’s the four Bs” she always says, “Budget, Bond, Bid, and Build.” While this takes a long time to explain, and even longer for a constituent to understand, it takes a lot of time for the road to pass through the four Bs and get repaved.
Ruth Walter is currently Westchester County Legislator for District 15. District 15 is North Yonkers, East Yonkers, and the village of Bronxville. A Democrat, Legislator Walter has been in this position since 2019, and she is running for reelection this year against Republican James Nolan. I have been volunteering on her campaign for the past five months. During this time, I have attended fundraisers, supported phone banks, and helped develop the website. But more than anything else, I have walked with Ruth, as we have gone from one side of the district to the other, talking to people from all different backgrounds. It has not been unusual for us to drive from one side of the district where we talked to constituents living in the basement apartments of 3-4 family homes, to another side of the district to meet up with other volunteers, where we talked to constituents living in larger, 3-4 bedroom single-family homes, with well-maintained lawns and blooming flowers. We have also talked to immigrants, who are not U.S. citizens, as we have tried to find a way for their children in college to get the absentee ballots that they need to be able to vote.
As we walk from one house to another, we pass someone working on a car, outside of their garage. I look at MiniVAN, an app that guides us on which door to knock on and who to talk to, and I make sure to let her know that this house is not on our list. However, she is already racing towards the man, who as I see it is having some time to himself on this sunny, but hot, Sunday afternoon. Ruth is never discouraged, and when the man only allows her about 30 seconds to make her point, she is somehow able to tell him everything he needs to know about her, as well as everything that he needs to know about early voting. He seems slightly interested as if he is considering putting the tool that is still in his right hand on top of his car. Ruth asks him if he had any trouble with flooding from the recent hurricanes, seeing that this neighborhood is close to the Bronx River. When they finished talking, it seemed unclear to me whether or not he was a supporter, but Ruth did not waste time, as she asked him if he would be okay with us putting up a lawn sign on his front lawn. “It’s just to remind everyone to vote,” she said, with a smile on her face.
This year, there are no Presidential or Senate races, which means that voter turnout will be far lower than in the 2020 election. But as my walks with Ruth have revealed, local elected officials influence the things that affect you in your day-to-day lives, including roads, parks, taxes, and education. Early voting, which began on Saturday, October 23 in New York State, makes voting more accessible. It will continue through Sunday, October 31, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 2.
