Also, two candidates for two Cold Spring seats
Although four candidates will compete in a Democratic primary on June 24 for two open seats on the five-member Philipstown Town Board, all four candidates could still appear on the November ballot.
That’s because the two candidates endorsed by the Philipstown Democratic Committee, Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch, filed independent nominating petitions before the Tuesday (May 27) deadline.
Assuming the petitions are validated by the Putnam County Board of Elections, Cheah and Rauch will appear on the November ballot representing the Philipstown Focus party, regardless of the outcome of the primary vote. The other two Democratic candidates, John Maasik and Nat Prentice, must win on June 24 to compete again in November. There are no candidates from other parties.
Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, Democrats elected to the Town Board in 2021, are not seeking second terms. John Van Tassel, who is running unopposed for his third, 2-year term as supervisor, will appear on the Democratic and Philipstown Focus lines.
Cold Spring
Mayor Kathleen Foley will appear on the November ballot for her third, 2-year term on the Forge Ahead line. There are also two candidates for the Village Board seats being vacated by Aaron Freimark and Eliza Starbuck. John “Tony” Bardes will appear on the Garden Party line and Andrew Hall on the Village Party line. (Village elections are officially non-partisan.)
Bardes, who has lived in Cold Spring for 42 years, runs a landscaping and property management company based in Philipstown. He serves on the village’s Tree Advisory Board and previously was a member of the Philipstown Conservation Board, the Putnam County Cornell Cooperative Extension board and the Putnam County chapter of the American Red Cross. In 2008, he helped establish and served as president of a grassroots group called Citizens of Philipstown.
Hall, a resident of Cold Spring since 1998, is a graduate of the London School of Economics and works in the production finance division of MGM Amazon Studios. He is also a founding member of the Depot Docs series and served on the infrastructure and transportation committees for the 2012 comprehensive plan.
Primary Election June 24
Because there are four Democratic candidates — Ben Cheah, John Maasik, Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch — for two open seats on the Philipstown Town Board, a primary is scheduled for June 24.
The election — open only to voters who are registered with the Board of Elections as Democrats — will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The polling sites are the Garrison Volunteer Fire Department at 1616 Route 9 (which Continental Village voters should use) and the Cold Spring Methodist Church at 216 Main St. (which North Highlands voters should use).
Registered Democrats can vote early from June 14 to June 22 at the Putnam County Board of Elections, 25 Old Route 6, in Carmel. See boe.putnamcountyny.gov for hours.
The last day that the Board of Elections can receive an application for an absentee or early voting ballot is June 14. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by June 24. See boe.putnamcountyny.gov. The voter registration deadline for the primary is June 14; the deadline to change party registration has passed. See boe.putnamcountyny.gov. You can check your registration status, including party affiliation, at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.
Putnam County
In the race for sheriff, Larry Burke, a Cold Spring police officer, submitted an independent nominating petition by the Tuesday deadline to run on a ballot line for the Serve & Protect party. If his petition is validated, he will compete in November with incumbent Kevin McConville, who is seeking his second, 4-year term on the Republican and Conservative lines.
There will be three open seats on the nine-member Legislature, which has eight Republicans and one Democrat (Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley).
In District 5, which includes the hamlet of Carmel and eastern Lake Carmel, Brett Yarris will appear on the Democratic and For the People lines and Jake D’Angelo on the Conservative line. The Republican line will be determined by a primary on June 24 between D’Angelo and incumbent Greg Ellner.
In District 6, which includes Southeast, Thomas Sprague will appear on the Democratic and Serving Southeast lines, while there will be primaries for the Republican (Tom Brann and Tommy Regan) and Conservative (Brann and John O’Connor) lines. The winner in the general election will succeed Paul Jonke, who did not seek a fourth, 3-year term.
In District 9, which includes the Town of Carmel and Mahopac, Lenny Harrington will appear on the Democratic, Working Families and A Better Putnam lines, while incumbent Erin Crowley will have the Republican and Conservative lines.
Michael Turton contributed reporting.
Strange headline and article for something Team Philipstown has done in every election: run as both Dems and independents. Don’t recall The Current ever flagging it before.
It doesn’t make any difference unless there’s a primary.
Calling it “a wash” is totally disingenuous as you know very well that the odds of winning in Philipstown as a Democratic candidate are way higher than running as an independent. Otherwise the other candidates would be running as independents, which they are not, instead of going through the primary process.
It’s a wash only in the sense that the four candidates on the primary ballot could also be the four candidates on the November ballot. Not sure how you are determining that being on the Democratic line in November translates to winning when people registered with other parties or not registered (independent) will be voting in that one.
A simple search just showed me that over the past decade 100 percent of the Town Board members have come via the Democratic line. So that’s how I’m determining it.
Of course, but how many were contested elections?
100% of them were contested:
Election Years and Contested Races
• 2015: Contested. Incumbent Democrats Robert Flaherty and Nancy Montgomery faced Republican challenger Craig Watters for two Town Board seats.
• 2017: Contested. Democratic incumbents John Van Tassel and Michael Leonard ran for re-election against Republican challenger Tim Greco.
• 2019: Contested. Judith Farrell (Democratic and Team Philipstown lines) and Robert Flaherty (Democratic and Conservative lines) won the two available seats, defeating Republican Corey Lyons.
• 2021: Contested. Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, both endorsed by the Democratic Party, secured the two open seats on the Town Board.
• 2023: Contested. Incumbents Judith Farrell (Democratic and Team Philipstown lines) and Robert Flaherty (Democratic and Conservative lines) were re-elected, defeating Republican challenger Neal Tomann.
2021 was not contested. Two candidates for two seats. The others were contests between Democratic and Republican candidates. As I understand your argument, you’re saying that being on the Democratic line by default gives you a better chance against an independent candidate in a Town Board election, which is what could be the situation this year on the November ballot. But not sure how anyone could know that, since different candidates appearing on Democratic and independent lines hasn’t happened anytime recently, or maybe ever, for a Town Board election. We’ll see what happens on June 24.
The Philipstown Democratic Committee has often chosen to run their candidates on a separate ballot line for two reasons. One, it allows voters to vote for a great candidate without voting for a party they may not support. Secondly, and I believe more importantly, it gives the candidate an opportunity to meet hundreds more voters before an election. This may be one of the reasons that the Philipstown Democratic candidates have fared well in our community: They show from the get-go that they’re willing to put in the extra effort to be a contributor to the excellence of our community and its governance.
Gilbert is co-chair of the Philipstown Democratic Committee.
In an era when voter turnout for local elections is shockingly low, your headline seems to be deliberately discouraging Democrats in Philipstown from voting on June 24. To say the primary is a “wash” implies that it doesn’t matter if people vote. On the contrary, a Democratic primary is the first time that voters of that party have a real choice of Town Board candidates (and the outcome matters a great deal to the candidates John Maasik and Nat Prentice). Your headline could have emphasized the greater democracy that this primary represents.
The headline says it could be a wash. Everyone should vote, which is why we include information to help them do so.
The 2021 race was contested — Jason and Megan ran against Sarina Tamanga and Neal Tomann. You’re saying that we can’t assess the impact of running as an independent versus a Democrat because there hasn’t been a recent example to compare. So given that uncertainty — and the fact that the Democratic Party line has won every time — how can you say this is a wash? Or more to the point, how can you make that the headline?
If the primary ballot and the general ballot both have the same four names, the primary election is a wash. That’s all it meant. You can extend it to say that being on the Democratic line is a distinct advantage; but in this particular case, that may be harder to predict.
I would like to thank the 25 villagers who fanned out across our neighborhoods collecting signatures to get me back on the ballot for mayor in the November elections. Petitioning isn’t easy, and the job has grown even more challenging as skepticism grows across the country about elections and government generally. I appreciate the time you spent door knocking and in conversation with your neighbors and friends, and I appreciate each of the 376 village voters who signed for me. The work of democracy is truly local.
Although I do not have a challenger, I am mindful that serving as your mayor is a privilege and a sacred trust. I don’t take this responsibility lightly, or for granted. I will still be doing outreach and asking for your vote as we head toward November. Most importantly, I always welcome questions or comments — let me know how I am doing! Please feel free to reach out to [email protected].
I look forward to working with the two gentlemen who stepped up to run for trustee: Tony Bardes of the Garden Party and Andrew Hall of the Village Party. These are honorable men who love this community and are ready to work hard as trustees. They will bring a balance of strong skills and experience to the Village Board from their own professional lives. Together, we will work to protect the village we all love and plan for the village we all want to see.
It’s important to note that only two of the four candidates have been endorsed by the Philipstown Democratic Committee, which is one reason why this election should not be a wash.
The endorsement of only two candidates was not made clear in the article. While the emphasis is on these two candidates also running on an independent line in the general election, the fact of the Philipstown Democratic Committee’s endorsement is slipped in in such a way that the distinction is unclear.
The statement “That’s because the two candidates endorsed by the Philipstown Democratic Committee, Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch…” is later followed by “The other two Democratic candidates, John Maasik and Nat Prentice,” and could easily be read as though all four have been endorsed. This is an important distinction for local Democrats before they go to the polls.