Local Democrats will decide US House, town justice candidates in June 25 primary. Early voting begins Saturday

Early voting for New York State primary elections begins on Saturday — and local Democrats have two decisions to weigh in on this year.

Democratic voters who live in Riverhead will choose whether to nominate Nancy Goroff or John Avlon as the party’s candidate for New York’s First Congressional District. The winner will face first-term incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota, 45, of Amityville, who is seeking reelection on the Republican and Conservative party lines, in the Nov. 5 general election.

Avlon, 51, of Sag Harbor is an ex-CNN political commentator and former editor-in-chief of the national news website The Daily Beast. He has key endorsements in the race, including from New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs and Assembly Member Fred Thiele. The Riverhead and Southold Democratic committees have also endorsed Avlon in the race.

Goroff, 56, of Stony Brook, is an organic chemist and former professor at Stony Brook University. She ran for Congress in 2020 and was defeated by former Rep. Lee Zeldin by roughly 10%. Goroff has the endorsement of EMILYs List, a national organization that campaigns to elect Democratic pro-choice women. 

The First Congressional District is a Republican-leaning district that the Democratic candidates consider a swing district in this year’s race. The seat flipped from Democrat to Republican in 2014, when Republican State Senator Lee Zeldin upset six-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Tim Bishop. LaLota succeeded Zeldin in 2022, when Zeldin bowed out to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul. LaLota won his first term with a 55.5% to 44.5% victory over then-Democratic County Legislator Bridget Fleming.

Since the 2022 election, the boundaries of the district have been reconfigured. Voters in the redrawn district voted 50.9% in favor of Donald Trump for president in 2020, according to Redistricting & You, an online district map created by the CUNY Center for Urban Research using public election data. 

Democratic voters in Riverhead Town will also be asked to decide who will be their nominee for a local government position: Riverhead town justice. 

Democratic Party designee William Condon is facing a challenge from incumbent Town Justice Sean Walter. Both men are registered Conservatives, and Walter already has the Republican and Conservative nominations in the race. 

If Walter is successful in the primary challenge, he would block Condon from being on the ballot, raising his chances for victory in a local election that voters often pay little attention to.

MORE COVERAGE: Two registered Conservatives to vie for Democratic nomination in town justice court race

Walter, 57, of Wading River, was elected town justice in 2020 to fill a vacancy created by the death of longtime Justice Allen Smith in July of that year. Prior to his election to the town court, Walter served as town supervisor from 2010 to 2017 and, before that, was a deputy town attorney. In addition to being a town justice, he has a private law practice in Wading River.

Condon, 65, of Aquebogue, was a State Supreme Court justice in Suffolk County for 14 years until his retirement in 2022. Prior to his election to the bench in 2008, he was in private practice and served for eight years as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County. He currently has a private practice specializing in arbitration and mediation. 

Primary voters will take to the polls on Tuesday, June 25, at their regular designated polling place. They can also vote early at select polling places starting this Saturday, June 15, until June 23. Local early voting polling places include: Riverhead Town Hall on West Second Street in Riverhead, the Robert Reid Recreation Center in Shoreham and the Manorville Fire House in Manorville. You can find all the early voting locations and the schedule for voting hours on the Suffolk County Board of Elections’ website.