Getting to know the candidates

HARLEM VALLEY — It’s election time, with less than two weeks left before voters head to the polls. That means candidates are giving their all to familiarize voters with their platforms, their core beliefs and most of all, their names.

Which begs the question, have you seen any signs with Susan Tooker’s name? She is the Democrat running against popular incumbent Marc Molinaro, who is also running as the candidate for the Independent and Conservative parties for state Assembly District 103.

Tooker was a no-show at two previous debates in Taconic and Hudson because she is a single mom working two jobs and was unable to change her schedule. Her campaign funds are limited because she believes you should not have to spend your salary to get elected.

Jon Arnason, head of the town of North East’s Democratic Committee, sympathized with the difficulty Tooker faces.

“She’s a poor unfortunate who agreed to run against Molinaro,†he said. “It is universally believed that Molinaro is unbeatable. At least this year.â€

In all of the New York races, from governor to county court justices in the Northeast Corner of Dutchess County, only three incumbents are running: Stephen Saland for state Senate, Molinaro for Assembly and Emmet Murphy for state Supreme Court on the Democratic, Republican, Independent and Conservative lines.

Most voters don’t know very much about any of the other candidates. According to a Friday, Oct. 8, Quinnipiac poll, 75 percent of voters don’t know enough about Democrat Eric Schneiderman, who is running for attorney general, to have an opinion of him, and 90 percent of New York voters don’t have any opinion about Harry Wilson, a Republican running for state comptroller. Check the adjoining chart, which sets out the candidates of the four major parties in November’s election for all of the races in the Northeast Corner of Dutchess County.

The only local election in the area is in Millbrook, and has already been decided. No one is opposing incumbent Laura Hurley for mayor or Joe Spagnola and Buddy Cox for the Millbrook Village Board.

The most closely watched races are for the state Senate, where Democrats now hold a majority for the first time in 40 years, but by only one seat.

Millbrook Democrat Didi Barrett is aggressively challenging longtime incumbent Republican Sen. Stephen Saland for the Senate seat in District 41.

The race between Republican and Tea Party-supported Assemblyman Greg Ball and Democratic Westchester County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz for state Senate District 40 is also a fierce one.

At the top of the ticket, Democrat Andrew Cuomo’s win over pugnacious Republican Carl Paladino for governor seems assured, with even the New York Post endorsing Cuomo. The big unknown is the impact of the governor’s race on turnout and whether the Cuomo -Paladino race will bring voters to the polls.

There is little doubt that Sen. Chuck Schumer will return to the U.S. Senate and that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed by Governor Paterson to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, vacated when she became secretary of state, will be elected to finish Clinton’s term. Schumer, who won re-election in 2004 in the largest landslide in the state’s senatorial election history, had an estimated $23 million in cash to spend on his campaign against Republican Jay Townsend, who has reported only $10,566 in cash at the end of August. Gillibrand reported cash in excess of $4.5 million while her Republican opponent, Joseph DioGuardi, reported less than $1 million.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2; polls in Dutchess County will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. For a complete list of polling places, log on to dutchesselections.com or call 845-486-2473.

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