MOUNT VERNON, NY — Mount Vernon Democrats last night nominated 27-year-old Tyrae Woodson-Samuels as their candidate for Westchester County Legislator.
Woodson-Samuels attended Iona Preparatory High School in New Rochelle where he was a standout quarterback on the football team.
“I want to thank the Mount Vernon Democratic Party and my fellow district leaders for their unanimous support. I’m deeply honored to accept this nomination to carry the Democratic Party banner into the November special election,” said Woodson-Samuels, a native of Mount Vernon.
Woodson-Samuels is running to fill out the term of former Legislator Lyndon Williams, who was appointed as Mount Vernon city judge by Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard. Woodson-Samuels is a veteran of public service: most recently he served as Deputy Director of Constituent Services for Congressman Eliot Engel, with responsibility for the nearly 500,000 Westchester residents of the 16th Congressional District.
“My candidacy is about the future,” said Woodson-Samuels. “I strongly believe we need innovation, investment, technology, and energetic leadership that brings people together here in Mount Vernon, and throughout our county.”
Woodson-Samuels serves on the Westchester Black Democrats Committee on Legislation, as Caucus of Color Chair for the Westchester Young Democrats, and is Former Second Vice-President of Mount Vernon NAACP, among many other community involvement activities.
“Yes, I am a young man – a young Black man,” said Woodson-Samuels. “I don’t believe this is a time for waiting. It’s a time for running. Barack Obama did not wait. Kamala Harris did not wait. When the late John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge, he was just 25 years old and already a national civil rights leader.”
Woodson-Samuels graduated from the historic HBCU, Hampton University in Virginia. He has served as Mount Vernon City Committee District Leader, Community Service Associates Soup Kitchen Board Member, and Fleetwood Neighborhood Association Board Member, among other roles.