New Westchester County Legislator Anant Nambiar (District 7) was sworn in at a ceremony on Thursday, January 8, 2026 at the Mamaroneck Town Center. Nambiar was sworn in by Rye resident and outgoing County Legislator Catherine Parker. Nambiar was accompanied by his wife Hema and daughter Simran while being sworn in. He was first sworn in at a county event on New Year’s Day.
Nambiar was introduced at the ceremony by County Legislator David Imamura (District 12), the first Asian American to sit on the Board. Nambiar is the first South Asian. Both spoke at length about the immigrant experience. Imamura spoke about visiting senior centers with Chinese Americans and how the people would “burst into tears” with joy and emotion seeing an elected official that looked like them – after all their struggles and encounters with bias.
“I know that somewhere there’s a South Asian girl in grade school who just got made fun of because she brought dal and rice lunch, and some and her classmates were making fun of her for her food smelling weird and that she wasn’t an American,” said Imamura. “And I know from experience that that is a moment where you do not feel like you are part of the American story, and I know that later that day, she will see Anant Nambiar speaking, and she will see Anant Nambiar leading, and she will know from his example that she is actually a part of the American story.”
Nambiar, age 55, described himself as serious, competitive, optimistic, appreciative, determined and reliable. He described losing his father at age 25 and how that event started to focus him, realizing nothing is guaranteed. He told a story of flying back from India at age seven. During an unscheduled stopover in Dubai, the hotel segregated all the Indians at one large table and the handful of non-Indian families at their own tables. His father spoke up, objecting to the treatment.
“I just remember thinking to myself, who do I want to be?,” said Nambiar, explaining the experience. “Do I want to be one of those other 120 who knew what was wrong but didn’t want to say anything? Or do I want to be the person speak up?”
Nambiar thanked many folks with special call outs to Shannon Powell (Post Road Partners), Catherine Parker (Rye, former District 7 County Legislator), Danielle Tagger (Rye Democrats) and Mallory Chin (Larchmont – Mamaroneck Democrats), a number of his organizers and door knockers, and the local 32SBJ union.
He finished by mentioning some of his priorities including flooding and the re-constitution of the Long Island Sound Watershed Intermunicipal Council, economic development and technology issues including the improvement of cell phone coverage.
