Early voting all this week will culminate on Election Day, November 5, when the public will decide on a new president and who represents them in Washington and Albany. On the ballot will be former President Donald Trump vs. Vice President Kamala Harris, along with candidates for Congress, the state Senate and Assembly, and various judicial offices.
Flipping the ballot over, voters will see two propositions: a controversial measure to enshrine certain rights into the state Constitution and increase the sales tax an eighth of a penny for sewers and private cesspool upgrades.
Trump and Harris, a last-minute replacement by the Democrats for a faltering Joe Biden, are locked in an epic battle that many are calling one of the most consequential in American history. Trump is running on a Make America Great Again platform of rescuing the U.S. economy, paring down inflation, closing the border, stopping the drug scourge, and halting the crime wave, all problems he says Harris and Biden created.
Harris has been running an anybody-but-Trump campaign and the cache of being the first woman president and woman of color to run for the nation’s top office. She’s been scant on details of what her administration would like to accomplish and says she can’t think of anything she’d do differently than Biden. Running with Harris is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while Ohio Senator J.D. Vance is backing up Trump.
Control of the House of Representatives could very well depend on New York as it did in 2022 when Long Island Republicans helped wrest control from Nancy Pelosi. The balance of power got a little tighter with the expulsion of George Santos and the GOP losing his seat to Tom Suozzi. The Republicans are looking to hold onto the seats of first-termer Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, and Anthony D’Esposito. Former Rep Lee Zeldin’s running mate for governor in 2022, Alison Esposito, is making a spirited run in the Hudson Valley’s 18th District, a race that could give the Republicans some breathing room in the 118th Congress.
Though Trump declares he could win the Empire State and has had two rallies here to buck up the vote, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, Mike Sapraicone, is seen to have an uphill climb to beat 15-year incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand.
Democrat control of the state legislature is not considered threatened this year due to their large pluralities in both houses. East End incumbent Tony Palumbo is fighting a well-financed run by former legislator Sarah Anker. Both candidates have qualified for public campaign financing funds, with the senator nailing down $151,000 to his challenger’s $375,000.
His running mate on the other side of the legislature, 2nd District GOP Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, is considered safe from her challenge by Tricia L Chiaramonte, as is Assemblyman Joe DeStefano in the 3rd, who’s up against Democrat Trina Miles. Looking to fill the shoes of long-time Assemblyman Fred Thiele in the 1st are Southampton Town Board Member Tommy John Schiavoni, the Democrat, and Shelter Island attorney Stephen Kiley. In the 4th District, one-term incumbent Ed Flood is looking to stave off Rebecca Kassay. Flood received $84,000 in public funds for his race, while Kassay got $251,000. In the 8th, long-time Republican incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick is considered safe against Steven Basileo.
Another local senator approved for public campaign monies was Dean Murray, who’s facing a challenge from Democrat Michael Conroy. Craig Herskowitz, who also qualified for public financing, is challenging Senator Mario Mattera in the 2nd who did not, while his fellow Republican Senator Alexis Weik is up against Francis Dolan in the 8th.
There is no contest for Supreme Court justice this year as all eight candidates are cross-endorsed by the three parties: Democrat, Republican, and Conservative, making a write-in candidate highly unlikely. The Democrats didn’t put anyone up for Suffolk County Court judge, ceding the two open seats to the GOP.
There is a race for three Family Court seats. The Democrats are running Stuart Besen, Darlene Jorif Mangane, and Jordan Katz, while the Republicans are going with Carl Copertino and Christopher Brocato.
Five candidates are running for three seats on Brookhaven’s 6th District Court: Democrats Margot Garant and Dorothy Cavalier and Republicans Patricia Blake, Kenneth Lauri, and Evan Tanenbaum. The GOP candidates also have the Conservative line, giving them an edge over the Democrats.