Eleven of the 23 seats in the Ulster County Legislature are not being contested in this year’s November 4 general election. That leaves only twelve contests, and if truth be told many of these are not expected to be closely competed for.
There’s not much candidate competition at the top of the ballot in Ulster County this year, either. Of four offices above the level of the county legislature, only one is being contested in the November 4 general election.
The eleven very likely shoo-ins for the county legislature, nine are Democrats and only two, Jason Kovacs (Ulster) and GOP minority leader Kevin Roberts (Shawangunk) are Republicans. Democrats include three Kingstonians — majority leader Abe Uchitelle, Greg McCullough and chair Peter Criswell – plus newcomer Bill Murray and unopposed incumbents Debra Clinton, Megan Sperry, Eric Stewart, Chris Hewitt and Jeff Collins.
Saugerties incumbent Aaron Levine has a ballot opponent this year, R-C candidate Gianfranco Pellegri. R-C and Common Sense challenger Ron Polacco will be facing a fresh Saugerties Democratic candidate, Ann Peters. According to the county certification release, Democrat Michael Berardi will be competing with Ulster incumbent R-C Eric Kitchen.
South of Kingston, incumbent Democrat-WF incumbent Joe Donaldson is being challenged by R-C Jared Guess. D-WF candidate Amy Dooley is challenging R-C Herb Litts, who had a close call two years ago. And fellow longtime incumbent Gina Hansut (R-C) is facing off against Dominick Marino (D-WF).
Getting into the strongly Republican area in the south of the county, Thomas Corcoran – the subject of recent criticism from retiring fellow GOP legislator Joe Maloney – is facing opposition from Laura Donovan (D-WF-Common Ground). R-C incumbent Richard Walls is being opposed by D-WF candidate Adrienne Gelfand-Perini. R-C Craig Lopez is facing Democrat Eddie Llovio. And there’s competition in Wawarsing between Thomas Briggs (D) and Cassie Spoor (R-C).
Moving back northward to Rosendale, newcomer Lindsey Grossman (D,WF) will be in a race with Cheryl Schneider, who has only a People First line. And tucked in the legislative district in the northwest corner of the county, incumbent Democratic legislator Kathy Nolan is facing a challenge from Peter Friedel (R-C).
Unopposed on the countywide ballot for a four-year term is incumbent county clerk Taylor Bruck, a Kingston resident and historian who was midterm successor to the late Nina Postupack. Bruck’s on the Democratic line only.
Also unopposed for a four-year term is county comptroller March Gallagher on both the Democratic and Working Families lines, a Rosendale resident first appointed in 2019 and elected to a four-year term in 2021.
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