Experienced public servant
Democratic values
Openness to all our neighbors
Michael Peppard for Westchester County Legislator, District 3
Mount Pleasant, North Castle, Pleasantville, Sleepy Hollow, Harrison
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ENDORSED BY:
Westchester County Democratic Committee
Mount Pleasant Democratic Committee
North Castle Democratic Committee
Harrison Democratic Committee
Our Values
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Together, across every neighborhood of our county, we are resisting the climate of fear and reclaiming the fundamental habits of democracy.
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No other country has been so bold as ours, to try to bring anyone and everyone together under the flag of liberty and equality.
It’s a noble vision – one worth fighting for.
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Westchester has been leading the way since before our country was even a country. Our shared history can guide our future.
Learn more
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I pledge to hold the line on taxes and ensure that our common funds go toward the common good.
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We must vigorously protect our lands and water, while also building new climate resiliencies.
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I will work to make life more mobile and connected around the county, from rails to trails.
MEET MICHAEL
Michael Peppard is a neighbor and a public servant—a parent at school pickup, a regular on the train platform, and someone who has spent years helping his community make practical decisions about its future.
As a professor at Fordham University, Michael has built his career helping students navigate complicated questions and competing priorities—skills he brought to the Pleasantville Village Board. There, he worked to balance growth with preservation, support small businesses, and plan for a community families can afford to stay in.
With three children in and through public schools, Michael understands how a community is built around families and traditions, while welcoming newcomers. He’s also a strong advocate for small businesses and the Main St. experience. Watching his wife Rebecca run her Westchester design studio has given him a firsthand view of what small businesses need from government: clear rules, predictable processes, reliable services, and leaders who solve problems instead of creating them.
Raised in a family of teachers and educated at Notre Dame (B.A.) and Yale (Ph.D.), Michael believes democracy works best when public servants stay close to the people they represent. Most days you’ll find him biking to the train, coaching batting practice, playing music with friends, or moving between the church potluck and pub trivia night.
He’s running for County Legislator to keep Westchester livable, sustainable, economically vibrant, and welcoming to the next generation of families putting down roots here.
We’ve got to talk about the elephant in the room. In 2026, we are not living through politics as usual. Every day brings more news that our basic civil rights are under threat. What moved me to enter this race is the civic duty to defend the rights of my neighbors, no matter their background or language or creed. That’s why together, across every neighborhood of our county, we are resisting the climate of fear and reclaiming the fundamental habits of democracy.
Nothing is more foundational to our government than securing the integrity of your vote. Some of our county’s oldest towns, like North Castle, even have records of holding local elections at meeting halls and taverns already decades before the Revolutionary War. As your County Legislator, I will defend your civil rights and ensure that your vote always counts.
Defending Democracy
Affordability
As an elected official, I recited out loud an oath to uphold the Constitution. In my heart, I also made another promise: to use your hard-earned tax dollars wisely and fairly. No waste, no funny business. Just the excellent services you expect, and transparency about our spending. As a Trustee on my village board, we did that while maintaining a stellar bond rating.
As your County Legislator, I’ll continue to direct our common funds toward the common good. I will hold the line on taxes, and make sure that our county’s prosperity is shared by all. We will continue to explore housing options where they make the most sense – especially for our seniors, so that you can stay in the county you love.
Westchester is blessed with abundant natural resources. The balance of bustling town centers surrounded by bucolic landscapes is what drew many of us to live here. We must vigorously protect our lands and water, while also building new climate resiliencies.
As your County Legislator, I will protect our remaining natural landscapes, by pursuing smart development only where it makes the most sense and pushing for adaptive re-use of existing buildings. We can also make budget choices with sustainability in mind. In my town, this meant getting an electric lawnmower for the parks and building out our electric vehicle infrastructure. At the county level, we can really make a big difference: by enhancing flood mitigation, preserving watersheds, and weaning our local economies, one step at a time, off fossil fuels.
Sustainability
Mobility
“This train stops at Pleasantville, Hawthorne, Valhalla, North White Plains …” As a commuter to Fordham, I’ve heard these words thousands of times. Transit connects us. On my village board, we were always working behind the scenes to improve transportation and mobility of all kinds.
As your County Legislator, I will continue to make life more mobile and connected for all. More space for our seniors with walkers, for moms with zig-zagging toddlers, for buses and cars and bikes and … whatever scooter they come up with next. You’ll know this part of your government is working well when you simply don’t have to think about it. So I’ll keep making it easier to get around – for you to connect with each other, from rails to trails.
Every coin in your pocket bears our founding phrase: e pluribus unum, “out of many, we are one.” Whatever we do, our democratic values demand that we are inclusive of all. In our history, this hasn’t always been easy. One reason for the struggle is that no other country has been so bold as ours, to try to bring anyone and everyone together under the flag of liberty and equality. It’s a noble vision – one worth fighting for.
As your County Legislator, I will always work to make our society more inclusive. Here in our time, inclusivity still means vigilant protection against racist hatred and anti-Semitism. It also means supporting the LGBTQ community and rejecting brazen attacks on women’s rights. Often it means exercising our First Amendment right to free assembly and protest.
During our county planning meetings, inclusivity also means a new crosswalk design that helps the dad in a wheelchair. It means mental health response teams that have the staff they need. It means someone on the other end of the emergency line who speaks your language, to summon life-saving intervention.
Inclusivity isn’t just a buzz word – and it’s certainly not a bad word. It’s the foundation of our country. Out of many, we are one.
Inclusive of All
Defending Democracy
We’ve got to talk about the elephant in the room. In 2026, we are not living through politics as usual. Every day brings more news that our basic civil rights are under threat. What moved me to enter this race is the civic duty to defend the rights of my neighbors, no matter their background or language or creed. That’s why together, across every neighborhood of our county, we are resisting the climate of fear and reclaiming the fundamental habits of democracy.
Nothing is more foundational to our government than securing the integrity of your vote. Some of our county’s oldest towns, like North Castle, even have records of holding local elections at meeting halls and taverns already decades before the Revolutionary War. As your County Legislator, I will defend your civil rights and ensure that your vote always counts.
Affordability
As an elected official, I recited out loud an oath to uphold the Constitution. In my heart, I also made another promise: to use your hard-earned tax dollars wisely and fairly. No waste, no funny business. Just the excellent services you expect, and transparency about our spending. As a Trustee on my village board, we did that while maintaining a stellar bond rating.
As your County Legislator, I’ll continue to direct our common funds toward the common good. I will hold the line on taxes, and make sure that our county’s prosperity is shared by all. We will continue to explore housing options where they make the most sense – especially for our seniors, so that you can stay in the county you love.
Sustainability
Westchester is blessed with abundant natural resources. The balance of bustling town centers surrounded by bucolic landscapes is what drew many of us to live here. We must vigorously protect our lands and water, while also building new climate resiliencies.
As your County Legislator, I will protect our remaining natural landscapes, by pursuing smart development only where it makes the most sense and pushing for adaptive re-use of existing buildings. We can also make budget choices with sustainability in mind. In my town, this meant getting an electric lawnmower for the parks and building out our electric vehicle infrastructure. At the county level, we can really make a big difference: by enhancing flood mitigation, preserving watersheds, and weaning our local economies, one step at a time, off fossil fuels.
Mobility
“This train stops at Pleasantville, Hawthorne, Valhalla, North White Plains…” As a commuter to Fordham, I’ve heard these words thousands of times. Transit connects us. On my village board, we were always working behind the scenes to improve transportation and mobility of all kinds.
As your County Legislator, I will continue to make life more mobile and connected for all. More space for our seniors with walkers, for moms with zig-zagging toddlers, for buses and cars and bikes and … whatever scooter they come up with next. You’ll know this part of your government is working well when you simply don’t have to think about it. So I’ll keep making it easier to get around – for you to connect with each other, from rails to trails.
Inclusive of All
Every coin in your pocket bears our founding phrase: e pluribus unum, “out of many, we are one.” Whatever we do, our democratic values demand that we are inclusive of all. In our history, this hasn’t always been easy. One reason for the struggle is that no other country has been so bold as ours, to try to bring anyone and everyone together under the flag of liberty and equality. It’s a noble vision – one worth fighting for.
As your County Legislator, I will always work to make our society more inclusive. Here in our time, inclusivity still means vigilant protection against racist hatred and anti-Semitism. It also means supporting the LGBTQ community and rejecting brazen attacks on women’s rights. Often it means exercising our First Amendment right to free assembly and protest.
During our county planning meetings, inclusivity also means a new crosswalk design that helps the dad in a wheelchair. It means mental health response teams that have the staff they need. It means someone on the other end of the emergency line who speaks your language, to summon life-saving intervention.
Inclusivity isn’t just a buzz word – and it’s certainly not a bad word. It’s the foundation of our country. Out of many, we are one.
Rooted in History
Here in Westchester, we’ve got stories of inclusion from before our country was even a country.
Here’s just one story: a neighborhood in my town of Mount Pleasant is named for the Hays family, a Jewish family that fled persecution in Spain, arrived in Westchester prior to 1700, and stood up to fight in the Revolution. Generations later, in the late 1800s, their descendants insisted that a new public school charter include a non-discrimination clause, so that anyone could attend. They were generations ahead of their time. Finally, 200 years after the Revolution, their remaining property became a group home for developmentally disabled children — a final act of an honorable Westchester family making sure everyone feels included in America.
In America, inclusivity isn’t some extra add-on option. It is the American lifeblood, the very spirit signaled by the Statue of Liberty to the world. And every generation has to discover it anew.
Join Us
Democracy only works when we work together.
We ask with gratitude for your support,
whether that be financial,
by volunteering with us,
or just spreading the word to
your friends, neighbors, and family.
