Many people will sit out the Sept. 6 primary election amid a bunch of uncontested races and an election date moved from the usual third Tuesday to the first Thursday.
Still, the local ballots present JPers with some motivation to vote. Most notable is the Democratic ballot battle for the Suffolk County Clerk of Courts for Criminal Business post. The incumbent, JP resident Maura Hennigan, and challenger Robert Dello Russo are locked in a heated but substantive debate about job qualifications.
Some say it’s silly that we vote on a clerk job. But there’s something to be said for citizen oversight of our court system. The clerk’s office staffs criminal trials and processes defendants. The race is worth your consideration.
On the Republican ballot, two candidates, Joe Selvaggi and Matias Temperley, compete for the right to duke it out with incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in November. It’s a rare chance for local Republicans to have a choice.