Public attention continues to be riveted on the race for the White House, but tomorrow is decision time for voters in a number of local electoral contests — as well as a county-wide ballot proposition to extend the Community Preservation Fund.
Polls will be open in New York from 6 a.m. till 9 p.m. tomorrow. You can check your voter registration and find your polling place at the N.Y. State Board of Elections. Click here.
Any voter whose name is not in the voter roll book can submit an affidavit ballot, Suffolk County Elections Commissioner Anita Katz said. The affidavit ballots are checked and verified at the county board of elections office in Yaphank, Katz said. This is standard procedure in every election, she said.
Sample ballot below: Click to enlarge.
U.S. Representative, First District
Term: Two years Salary: $174,000
First-term incumbent Republican Lee Zeldin of Shirley faces former Southampton Town supervisor Democrat Anna Throne-Holst in his bid for re-election.
Zeldin, 36, a two-term state senator before unseating former congressman Tim Bishop in 2014, touts the passage into law of two bills he sponsored: the Common Core Opt-Out Act, which prohibits the federal government from penalizing states that opt-out of the Common Core curriculum; and the Safe Bridges Act, adopted as part of a fully funded federal highway act, providing one-quarter of a billion dollars in funding to repair “functionally obsolete and structurally insufficient” bridges. He also points to his success battling a plan to reroute a portion of interstate truck traffic bound for the N.Y. metro area from I-95 to Long Island by way of Cross Sound ferry and North Fork Roads. A second traffic-related win, he says, was the fight against a rule that would have allowed larger, heavier trucks on local roads.
A social conservative, Zeldin is staunchly opposed to abortion; he has voted to defund Planned Parenthood several times. An opponent of same sex marriage, he favors a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
Zeldin supports repealing and replacing Obamacare, which he calls a failure.
He opposes raising the federal minimum wage.
He opposes a path to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. illegally. He supports expansion of the agricultural workers visa program.
Zeldin supports gun-owners’ rights and has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
He is a major in the U.S. Army Reserves and a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Zeldin grew up in the First Congressional District. He graduated from William Floyd High School in 1998 and then went on to earn a B.A. in political science from the SUNY/Albany in 2001 and a J.D. from Albany Law School in 2003.
Zeldin lives in his hometown of Shirley with his wife, Diana, and their twin daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.
Zeldin raised just under $4.2 million in this election cycle as of Oct. 19, according to the Federal Election Commission. See report.
Throne-Holst, 56, of Bridgehampton, is a three-term Southampton Town supervisor and former town councilwoman there. She touts her accomplishments as supervisor in turning around Southampton Town’s finances, resulting in a AAA bond rating, in implementing sustainable building codes and in successfully working as a minority member of a Republican town board.
Throne-Holst describes herself as a fiscal conservative who is “unabashedly a social liberal.” She is pro-choice, supports same-sex marriage and LGBT equality, paid family leave, and raising the federal minimum wage.
She supports what she calls “sensible gun control laws” including legislation to close the gun-show loophole, require background checks for people purchasing guns and regulating high-impact assault weapons.
Throne-Holst calls for Congress to focus on realistic immigration reform. She advocates deporting criminals, securing the nation’s borders and providing “a path to citizenship” for law-abiding immigrants in the country without proper documentation.
She supports tax code reform that would end off-shore tax loopholes she says costs the U.S. $400 billion in tax revenues annually.
Throne Holst, the mother of four adult children, immigrated to the U.S. from Sweden with her parents when she was 15 years old. She is a founder of the Hayground School and the former director of the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center.
Throne-Holst raised over $3.5 million for her congressional campaign. See report on FEC website.
New York State Senate, First District
Term: Two years Salary: $79,500
File photos: Katharine Schroeder
Republican Ken LaValle of Port Jefferson is seeking his 21st two-year term in the New York State Senate, where he is one of the two longest-serving members and chairman of the majority conference.
LaValle points to the 2-percent property tax cap, the STAR rebate program, the establishment of the Community Protection Fund, and the passage of the Pine Barrens Protection Act as a few of his biggest legislative accomplishments in his nearly 40 years in the State Senate. He worked to establish a burn unit at Stony Brook University Hospital and to forge a healthcare system for Suffolk County with Stony Brook as the hub of the network.
LaValle, 77, earned a bachelor’s degree from Adelphi College, a master’s degree in education from SUNY/New Paltz and a juris doctor from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He worked as a teacher and administrator before being elected to the State Senate in 1976.
LaValle has raised $200,207 during this election cycle as of Oct. 24, according to reports on file with the New York State Board of Elections.
Gregory-John Fischer of Calverton is the Democratic candidate for the First Senate District.
Fischer says he will fight corruption in Albany. He is a crusader for fathers’ rights and measures that punish child concealment. He supports an elected board of trustees for the Long Island Power Authority.
At a candidates forum in Mattituck last month, Fischer called for a cross-Sound tunnel between Long Island and Connecticut and “double-decking” the L.I. Expressway. Fischer said the State Legislature has too many lawyers — including LaValle — and doesn’t work to improve the economy.
Fischer, 59, is a business consultant and self-described turnaround strategist with a background in computer programming and software development. Fischer grew up in New York City and moved to Calverton in 2002. He has undergraduate degrees from CUNY/Manhattan Community College and SUNY/New Paltz and an MBA from SUNY/Albany.
Fischer has mounted unsuccessful campaigns for Riverhead town supervisor, town council member, school board and tax assessor.
Fischer has no campaign finance disclosure reports on file with the state Board of Elections, according to the agency’s website.
New York State Assembly
Term: Two years Salary: $79,500
Republican Anthony Palumbo of New Suffolk is seeking election to his second two-year term in the state assembly. He won the seat in 2013 in a special election after former assemblyman Dan Losquadro stepped down to become Brookhaven highway superintendent.
Palumbo is opposed to the $15 minimum wage as bad for small business owners. He said he is proud of his efforts in opposition to Common Core and his participation as a member of a statewide heroin and opiate abuse task force.
Palumbo, 46, is a former Suffolk County assistant district attorney and has a private law practice in Mattituck. He is married and the father of two young children.
Palumbo has raised $52,554 in this election cycle as of Oct. 24, according to the state Board of Elections, with an additional $1,800 contribution received on Oct. 25 from the Republican State Assembly Campaign Committee on Oct. 25.
The Democratic candidate, Michael Conroy of Manorville, has not been actively campaigning. (Conroy was on the Democratic line for State Senate in 2014.) He is running “to support Governor Cuomo’s vision of making New York State a good place to work, prosper, enjoy and take pride in,” according to the Suffolk County Democratic Committee website.
If elected, Conroy would look to protect workers and help create more good-paying jobs with benefits, according to the website, and fight unscrupulous contractors paying cash or 1099 forms to their workers, a practice he says is deprives the state of $4 billion a year in taxes.
Conroy, 57, is a construction worker and a 37-year member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, where he spent 14 years as an executive board member. He is a 20-year member and former vice chairman of both the Suffolk County Democratic Committee and Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee. Conroy lives in Manorville with his wife and two daughters.
For more information on the candidates’ positions, check VoteSmart.org
Proposition One
Proposition One asks voters to approve a local law that both extends the 2-percent real estate transfer tax to benefit the Community Preservation Fund through 2050 and also authorizes the use of up to 20 percent of the revenues of the fund for water quality improvement projects.
Since its inception in 1999, the 2-percent transfer tax currently has raised more than $1.1 billion for the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund and preserved more than 10,000 acres on the East End, according to Assemblyman Fred Thiele, who authored the legislation.
The tax has been overwhelmingly approved by East End voters three times: the original version in 1998, an extension to 2020 in 2002 and an extension to 2030 in 2006. The extension before voters this year — through 2050 — authorizes its use for water quality protection measures.
Also on the ballot tomorrow are contests for U.S. senator, two State Supreme Court justices, a county court judge and three family court judges.
