YORKTOWN – Longtime political operative Matthew Slater has declared his candidacy to become the next Yorktown town supervisor.  He will face incumbent Town Supervisor Ilan Gilbert in November.

Slater is not new to government having served as chief of staff for former State Senator Terrence Murphy as well as having served as Mid-Hudson Regional Director for the New York State Assembly Minority Conference. 

Slater served as the chairman of the Yorktown GOP committee until stepping down to run for supervisor. “People that have lived here all of their lives and people that just moved in say the same thing, Yorktown is just too expensive,” he said. “Decades of poor planning and bureaucratic hurdles have created a system where expenses continue to outpace revenues and nothing is done to ease our residential tax burden.”

Slater has been endorsed by Murphy, his former boss.

“There are a lot of unsung heroes in public service and to have Matt step up from behind the scenes will be a huge win for the people of Yorktown.”

Assemblyman Kevin Byrne also endorsed Slater. “In Yorktown alone, he helped us alienate parkland to preserve a historic cemetery, designate nearly two dozen local lakes, including Mohegan Lake, Sparkle Lake and Junior Lake as inland waterways for the purposes of waterfront revitalization and environmental remediation, as well as rename two of Yorktown’s state roads for fallen warriors of the community.”

Slater, 33, is a 2004 graduate of Yorktown High School, received his undergraduate degree from St. Anselm College and earned his Masters of Public Administration from Marist College. He and his wife, Kellie, have a three-year-old son.