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Local candidates running unopposed: Races for Congress and state seats

BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO

Shelter Island voters will have only two local candidates on next Tuesday’s ballot and both are running unopposed. Mary-Faith Westervelt is seeking another term on the bench at Shelter Island Justice Court to which she was first elected in 2011.

Judith Lechmanski is running for a first term as assessor.

The race that received the most attention pits two-term Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) against Perry Gershon. Kate Browning, who sought to wrest the Democratic nod from Mr. Gershon, is also running on the Women’s Equality Party line.

Incumbent Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) and Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) are seeking re-election. Mr. LaValle faces off against Gregory Fischer who is endorsed by the Democratic Party and Mr. Thiele is running against Patrick O’Connor, endorsed by the Republican and Conservative parties.

The November 6 ballot features other contests — here’s a quick rundown of who’s who.

Governor
• Andrew Cuomo (Democrat, Working Family, Independence, Women’s Equity)
• Marc Molinaro (Republican, Conservative, Reform)
• Howie Hawkins (Green)
• Stephanie Miner (Libertarian)

Mr. Cuomo is the incumbent, having been governor since 2011. An attorney, he was also the state’s attorney general from 2007 to 2010. His late father, Mario, was governor of New York from 1983 to 1994. Mr. Cuomo says the state “needs a governor who will stand up to” President Donald Trump. Gun safety, women’s equality and protecting the environment are among the issues he says he has targeted.

Mr. Molinaro is the Dutchess County executive and was mayor of Tivoli, N.Y., when he was 19.
He has criticized the state’s “crushing tax burden” and “culture of corruption” under Mr. Cuomo.

Mr. Molinaro has proposed plans he says will fix both of those issues. He is running with Julie Killian as lieutenant governor.

U.S. Senate
• Kirsten Gillibrand (D, WF, I, WE)
• Chele Farley (R, C, Reform)

Ms. Gillibrand has been a U.S. senator since January 2009, when she was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, who became Secretary of State.

She served previously as a congresswoman from the Albany area.

Ms. Gillibrand says she is “fighting back against President Trump’s dangerous, discriminatory agenda in Washington” and opposes “any efforts to cut the Social Security and Medicare benefits seniors have earned.”

Ms. Farley, a private equity executive, says New York isn’t getting its fair share from Washington and says there should be term limits “because career politicians spend too much time fighting over partisan issues.”