Still confused? Wait a minute…didn’t we already vote on Pat Ryan? Twice? So now we get to vote on him again on November 8?
Well, yes. Some of us.
And what about Marcus Molinaro? Well, he lost, so he’s out, right? No? So who gets to vote on him?
OK. We’ll start here. They’re both running for congress, but not against each other.
On August 23, Ryan, the former Ulster County Executive did indeed run in two different elections. He defeated Molinaro in a run for the soon to be dissolved 19th district House of Representatives seats, left vacant previously by Rep. Antonio Delgado’s elevation to Lt. Governor of New York. That’s where he sits currently. On that same date, he had to run in a primary election for the newly constituted, soon to be implemented 18th district where he lives. He won that race also, to become the Democratic candidate, where, on November 8 he’ll face off against Republican/Conservative Colin Schmitt, currently a state Assemblyman from New Windsor, in Orange County.
So, we’ve got:
18th District Congress:
Pat Ryan, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Colin J Schmitt, Republican, conservative
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in: the City of Kingston, or the towns of Esopus, Marbletown, Rosendale, New Paltz, Wawarsing (including Ellenville); Shawangunk, Gardiner, Lloyd, Plattekill, Marlborough.
Also included in this district is all of Orange County, most of Dutchess county including the city of Beacon, Fishkill, city and town of Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Milan, and Pine Plains.
If you live in any of the rest of Ulster County you will vote for the House of Representative seat for the new 19th district, where Molinaro, the current Dutchess County executive, who lost to Ryan narrowly in the August special election, gets another shot. His opponent, Josh Riley, of Ithaca, has worked as an attorney and a staffer in both houses of Congress.
19th District Congress
Josh Riley, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Marcus Molinaro, Republican, Conservative
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in: any of the Ulster county towns of Hardenburgh, Denning, Shandaken, Woodstock, Olive, Hurley, Saugerties, Town of Kingston or the Town of Ulster.
Remarkably, the 19th District also includes all of Tompkins, Cortland, Tioga, Broome, Chenango, Otsego, Delaware Sullivan, Greene, Columbia.
Next, we can look at the newly constituted State Senate districts which affect our area.
41st State Senate district features two incumbents colliding.
Michelle Hinchey, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Susan J. Serino, Republican, Conservative, Independence party
Hinchey, of Ulster County, is seeking her second term in the State Senate. Serino, of Hyde Park, has been in the Senate since 2015.
In the redistricting mashup, somehow these two incumbents find themselves squaring off.
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in: the Ulster County towns of Shandaken, Woodstock, Kingston, Saugerties, town of Ulster, Hurley, Rosendale, Esopus, New Paltz, Lloyd, Plattekill, Marlborough and City of Kingston.
The 41st State Senate district also contains all of Greene County, all of Columbia County; Northern Dutchess county towns of Red Hook, Milan ,Pine Plains, North East, Rhinebeck, Clinton Stanford Amenia, Washington, Dover, Pleasant Valley and Hyde Park.
Then, there’s another State Senate race featuring an incumbent.
51st State Senate
Eric Ball, Democrat
vs.
Peter K. Oberacker, Republican, Conservative
Ball, born and raised in Delaware County, serves on the Walton Board of Trustees.
Oberacker, the incumbent, defeated former Ulster County Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo in a Republican primary.
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in the Ulster County towns of Hardenburgh, Denning, Olive, Marbletown, Rochester, Wawarsing, Shawangunk and Gardiner.
51st State Senate district also consists of all of the counties of Sullivan, Delaware, Schoharie, Otsego and Broome.
We have two State Assembly districts in our area of concern.
State Assembly 103rd district
Sarhana Shrestha, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Patrick Sheehan, Republican, Conservative
Shrestha, 41, of Kingston defeated incumbent Kevin Cahill in a Democratic primary in August.
Sheehan, 51, in from Rhinebeck, is a former Democrat, who is now a registered Conservative.
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in City of Kingston, the Ulster County towns of Woodstock, Olive, Hurley, Saugerties, Kingston, Ulster, Marbletown, Rosendale, Esopus, New Paltz, Gardiner. The district also contains the towns of Red Hook and Rhinebeck in Dutchess County.
In the 101st Assembly district
Matthew Mackey, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Brian M. Maher, Republican, Conservative
Mackey, a Poughkeepsie native, become the first nonbinary elected representative in New York state level government.
Maher is supervisor of the town of Montgomery, and lives in Walden.
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in the Ulster County, towns of Hardenburgh, Denning, Wawarsing, Rochester and Shawangunk. The district also makes an impossible snake from part of Orange County, through towns in Delaware, Otsego, Herkimer and Oneida counties.
State Supreme Court, Third Judicial District has three seats available, for which four candidates will vie.
Three Democrats are Sharon A. Graff, of Ulster County, who has worked as a trial attorney for 20 years, advocating for clients in the State Supreme Courts.
Heidi Thais Cochrane, a native of Columbia County and a former schoolteacher, has been a trial attorney for 16 years in practice areas that include civil litigation, family law and criminal defense.
Meagan K. Galligan is Sullivan County District Attorney.
The lone Republican/Conservative seeking a seat is Thomas J. Marcelle, a Cohoes City Court Judge, who served as Chief Counsel to the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, and before that, was Albany County Attorney.
You will be able to vote in this race if you live in Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan or Ulster County.
Much has already been written, and more likely more will be dispensed about the race for:
Ulster County Executive
Jen Metzger, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
James E Quigley III, Republican, Conservative
You will be able to vote in this race if you live anywhere in Ulster County
And not much has been written, nor will it be, about the election for:
Ulster County Sheriff
Juan Figueroa, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Nobody
If you are wondering why we’ve listed Democrats first, it’s because they will appear first on the ballots, on Line A, due to having gotten the most votes for Governor in the last election for that auspicious job.
Governor, Lt Governor
Kathy Hochul, Democrat, Working Families
Antonio Delgado, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Lee Zeldin, Republican, Conservative
Alison Esposito, Republican, Conservative
Note: Governor and Lt. Governor candidates run together, so you’ll only cast one ballot in this election.
You will be able to vote in this race if you live…do we really need to say it? Anywhere in New York State.
State Comptroller
Thomas P DiNapoli, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Paul Rodriguez, Republican, Conservative
You will be able to vote in this race if you live…anywhere in New York State.
Attorney General
Letitia A. James, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Michael Henry, Republican, Conservative
You will be able to vote in this race if you live…anywhere in New York State.
U.S. Senate
Charles E. Shumer, Democrat, Working Families
vs.
Joe Pinion, Republican, Conservative
vs.
Diane Sare, LaRouche party
The LaRouche Party? Lyndon LaRouche ran for President eight times. Look him up on Wikipedia. Somebody must have collected a bunch of petitions…
You will be able to vote in this race if you live…anywhere in New York State.
In next week’s edition, we’ll go over the many propositions that are spread throughout the area.
If you don’t know where your polling place is, see: https://elections.ulstercountyny.gov and click on the icon that says ‘Polling Sites.’ There are also sample ballots at this site.
To view maps for State legislative offices and congressional districts see https://latfor.state.ny.us/maps/.
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