State Senate, Assembly and Congressional candidates to face off in debates this month

Three debates between candidates for the East End’s Senate, Assembly and Congressional seats are scheduled throughout the next two weeks.

The debates are being organized by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork, and will be broadcast live on Southampton Town’s SEA-TV YouTube channel. Candidates will make timed opening and closing statements and answer questions..

The first debate is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., between the candidates for the First State Assembly District. Southampton Council Member Tommy John Schiavoni of Sag Harbor (D) and Stephen Kiely of Mattituck (R) are vying for the seat being vacated by longtime Assembly Member Fred Thiele, who is retiring after nearly 30 years in the Assembly.

Schiavoni, who is endorsed by Thiele, is a retired teacher and has been a Southampton Town council member since 2017. Kiely is a land use and criminal attorney who has been an attorney to several municipalities and is currently Shelter Island Town Attorney.

The second debate is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m., between the candidates for the First State Senatorial District. Former Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker of Mt. Sinai (D) is challenging incumbent State Senator Anthony Palumbo of New Suffolk (R).

Anker served as county legislator for the Sixth Legislative District from 2012 until 2023, when she was barred by term limits from seeking another two-year term. Palumbo, who is the deputy Republican floor leader and ranking Republican member on the code and judiciary committees,  was first elected to the seat in 2020. Before his election to the State Senate, Palumbo, an attorney, served in the Assembly from 2013 until 2020. 

The final debate will be held on Monday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. for the First Congressional District seat, which will help decide what party has power in the closely divided House of Representatives. John Avlon of Sag Harbor (D) is challenging the first-term incumbent Congressman Nick LaLota of Amityville (R). 

Avlon is an ex-CNN political commentator, former editor-in-chief of the national news website The Daily Beast and a former political speech writer. LaLota, a Navy veteran, was chief of staff of the Suffolk County Legislature’s presiding officer, a trustee for the Village of Amityville and a Suffolk County Board of Elections Commissioner.  

There is no debate scheduled for the Second Assembly District seat. That seat is held by Assembly Member Jodi Giglio of Baiting Hollow (R), who is running for a third term against Democrat Tricia Chiaramonte of Manorville; Chiaramonte is not actively campaigning.

Early voting takes place in New York from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3 at select locations, including Riverhead Town Hall on West Second Street. See the early voting times and polling locations here. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5; polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.. You can check your regular polling site and voter registration here.

The deadline to register to vote in New York is Oct. 26 — which is also the last day you can request an absentee ballot. Information on how to register can be found on the state’s website here.