GHENT—Sample ballots for the 2022 General Election are now available to Columbia County voters for viewing at the website. Each county town’s ballot can be found at that website:
https://sites.google.com/a/columbiacountyny.com/elections/
Early voting commences Saturday, October 29 and ends Sunday, November 6. Early voting sites are located in Hudson at 401 State Street and in Valatie at 3211 Church Street at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building. Registered voters may cast early ballots at one of those two sites regardless of where in the county they reside.
In-person voting on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, is from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Registered in-person voters must go to their assigned polling place.
There are new rules in effect for persons wishing to vote by absentee ballot. A person issued an absentee ballot may not vote in-person on a voting machine during early voting or on Election Day but may vote by “affidavit ballot.” October 24 is the cutoff to request and submit an absentee ballot via surface mail or the state internet portal. Submissions and requests in person for an absentee ballot can be made at the Board of Elections office in Hudson up to Monday, November 7.
Statewide contests include governor and lt. governor: Kathy Hochul and Antonio Delgado, incumbent Democrats (D) with Working Families (WF) endorsement v. Lee Zeldin, Republican (R) with Conservative (Con) endorsement and Alison Esposito (R, Con).
State comptroller: Thomas DiNapoli (D, WF), the incumbent, v. Paul Rodriguez (R, Con) the challenger.
Attorney General: Letitia James (D, WF), the incumbent, v. Michael Henry (R, Con), the challenger.
U.S. Senate: Charles Schumer (D, WF), the incumbent, v. Joe Pinion (R, Con), the challenger.
Voters will have to choose from which party to select their candidates. Ballots with two parties chosen for the same candidate will be rejected by the voting machines.
Countywide there are four candidates for the 3rd Judicial District of the State Supreme Court. Voters can select up to three. The Democratic candidates are: Heidi Thais Cochrane, Sharon Graf and Meagan Galligan. The Republican/Conservative candidate is Thomas Marcelle.
In the 19th Congressional District, which includes all of Columbia County, 10 counties west of the Hudson River and portions of seven counties west of the Hudson, the candidates are new to voters.
Josh Riley (D, WF), won the August Democratic primary. His challenger is Marcus Molinaro (R, Con), Dutchess County executive. The 19th CD’s incumbent is Congressman Pat Ryan, who defeated Molinaro in the August Special election. (Ryan is running in the reconfigured 18th CD.)
All of Columbia County has been redistricted into the 41st State Senate District, where Michelle Hinchley (D, WF) is the incumbent. Susan Serino (R, Con) is the challenger.
Regarding Assembly Districts (AD), Columbia County has been divided into the 107th and 106th districts. In the northern section, the 107th AD includes Kinderhook, Stuyvesant, Stockport, Chatham and Ghent. Scott Bendett is the sole candidate running on the Republican and Conservative party lines.
The remaining towns of the southern section are in the 106th where Didi Barrett (D, WF) is the incumbent Democrat; the challenger is Brandon Craig Gaylord (R, Con) from Chatham.
There is one candidate for Columbia County Clerk, incumbent Holly Tanner, and County Coroner, Michael Blasi. Both are running on the Republican and Conservative party lines. There is a vacancy for coroner that can be filled by a write-in candidate.
There is one statewide Yes-or-No proposal. The Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 authorizes the sale of $4.2 billion in state bonds to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resiliency, and clean energy projects.
Five libraries have proposed budget increases: North Chatham, Claverack, Germantown, Valatie and Hudson. Voters registered in those communities should check the back of their ballot to determine whether their local library has a proposal.
Hudson voters will decide on a proposal to redistrict its five wards.
