Decision Day 2012

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While Tuesday’s election offers plenty of intrigue on the national level, things are a lot quieter on the local level.

There are no local elections in Granville, Whitehall, Hampton, or Dresden.

In Hartford, Republican Sharon Schofield is running against Hartford Proud nominee Sam Irwin for town justice and Democrat Robert Dillon is running unopposed for the final three years of an unexpired term on town council.

Voters in Putnam will also elect a justice, but Republican Dennis Kane is running unopposed for a four-year term.

And in Hebron, Republican Ed Harrington is running unopposed for the final year of an unexpired term on town council.

Despite the lack of local elections, voters will still have the chance to make their voices heard at the state and national levels.

 

One of the most intriguing races this year occurs in the state’s newest congressional district, the 114th.

Until this year, Washington County was a single state legislative district, the 113th. But following redistricting, the county was divided into two districts.

The 114th includes all of Essex and Warren counties, and Dresden, Fort Ann, Granville, Hampton, Hebron, Putnam and Whitehall in Washington County. It also includes three towns — Day, Hadley, and Edinburgh — in Saratoga County.

Voters in the newly formed district will chose between Queensbury Supervisor Dan Stec, a Republican, and Glens Falls attorney and Democrat Dennis Tarantino. Stec will also appear on the Conservative and Independence party lines and Tarantino appears in the Working Families ballot line.

Stec is a lifelong resident of Queensbury, a veteran of the U.S. Army, and a graduate of Clarkson University. For the past nine years he has been Queensbury’s supervisor and for the last two years has served as chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

Dennis Tarantino grew in Hudson Falls, graduated from Siena and Albany Law School and has run his own law practice on Glen Street in Glens Falls for more than 30 years.

 

Voters in Hartford and the rest of the Washington County will choose between Republican incumbent Tony Jordan and Democrat Carrie Woerner for the 113th District seat.

Woerner has served on the Village of Round Lake Board of Trustees since 2008, has worked in the high-tech field for 30 years and is currently the vice president of MeetMax Conference Software for the Wall Street Transcript.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Santa Clara University.

Jordan is a partner in the law firm, Jordan & Kelly LLC, and has served in the state Assembly since 2008.

He was born in North Creek and holds a bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in finance from the University of Notre Dame. He earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1995.

Jordan is the ranking member of the Assembly’s Committee on Local Governments and serves on the Assembly’s committees of Ways and Means, Codes, Judiciary, and Banks.

 

The other major state election is for the 45th Senate District, where Republican Elizabeth Little is running unopposed for her sixth term.

Little serves as chair of the Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism Parks and Recreation committee and is a member of the Civil Service and Pensions, Consumer Protection, Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, Environmental Conservation, Judiciary and Local Government committees.

 

In perhaps one of the most hotly contested Congressional races in the country, local residents will also choose from three candidates to represent them in the newly created 21st Congressional District.

Democratic candidate Bill Owens has represented the 23rd district since 2009. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a captain at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Owens has served on the committees of Agriculture, Armed Services and Small Business.

His opponent, Matt Doheny, graduated from Allegheny College and Cornell Law School.

After practicing law, Doheny became Deutsche Bank’s managing director for distressed assets and in 2008 joined Fintech Advisory before launching his own company, North Country Capital LLC.

Owens defeated Doheny in a close election for the 23rd congressional district in 2010.

Donald Hassig will appear on the Green Party ballot line for the 21st Congressional District despite the Green Party releasing a statement denouncing Hassig earlier this month.

 

Voters will also chose between Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, Republican Wendy Long, Green Party candidate Colia Clark, Libertarian Chris Edes and Constitution Common Sense candidate John Mangelli for U.S. senator.

 

Elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Local polling locations are listed below.

 

Whitehall

Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4: Whitehall Municipal Center

District 5: Town Highway Garage

 

Granville

Districts 1, 2, and 3: The Forum

District 4: Middle Granville Firehouse

District 5: North Granville Community Center

 

Hartford: Hartford Fire House

 

Hampton: Town Hall

 

Hebron: West Hebron Fire House

 

Dresden: Town Hall

 

Putnam: Town Hall