Jamaican-born Andre Wallace makes another bid to become mayor of Mount Vernon

NEW YORK – Jamaican-born Andre Wallace is hoping that this time will be a charm as he makes another bid to become mayor of Mount Vernon.

Voters in that city, some 45 miles north of Manhattan, will go to the polls tomorrow and Wallace is hoping for a different outcome this time around.

He will face off against incumbent mayor, Shawyn Patterson-Howard, in the Democratic Party's primary elections, both having made the ballot. Whoever wins the Democratic primary is a shoo-in to win the general election in November in the heavily democratic city.

Former mayor, Richard Thomas, who was forced to relinquish his post in 2019 after pleading guilty to violation of campaign finance laws, is mounting a write-in campaign to try and win back his old job. Thomas failed to make the Democratic Party ballot.

Wallace, a first term councilman in 2018, served as mayor of Mount Vernon for six months after Thomas was declared illegible to continue in the job under the city's charter because of his conviction.

Wallace made a bid in the 2019 election to win the job outright but came third behind Patterson-Howard and Thomas.

Early voting in the election for mayor and city council began on June 17 and ran through to June 25. Absentee balloting deadline was June 12.

Mount Vernon is home to a huge number of Jamaicans.

The last Jamaican to hold the mayor position was Ronald Blackwood and Wallace is hoping to follow in his footsteps.

A businessman and educator who has called Mount Vernon home for more than 38 years, Wallace is pinning his hope of winning on the Jamaican voters and siphoning off voters from other groups.

If Patterson-Howard wins the primary election, she will become the first incumbent since 2003 to be re-elected.

Wallace says on his website that the city needs a proven leader to turn the city around.

He cites high taxes and deteriorating city services as reasons why he should be elected to the post of mayor.

“Over the past years I've watched our taxes go up along with unemployment, while our basic services and quality of life have declined and taken a turn for the worst,” he said on his website.

“We need a visionary leadership that will create new possibilities and opportunities – and ultimately a brighter future – for our residents. There are many challenges Mount Vernon faces, however these obstacles are not so formidable that they cannot be overcome with strong responsible leadership and a powerful vision for success.”

Son of a Jamaican-born mother and a Cuban-born father, Wallace says that diversity has always been at the heart of his family and his aim, as mayor, is to bring the many diverse communities of Mount Vernon together to improve the quality of life of the city.

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