East End Candidate Debates Set for October

Candidates for New York State Assembly, state Senate and U.S. Congressional seats representing the Twin Forks have agreed to face off in televised debates in the final weeks before Election Day.

The nonprofit League of Women Voters of the Hamptons Shelter Island and North Fork debates will air on SEA-TV, which is broadcast online and through channel 22. Each is scheduled to run an hour long.

In the first debate, Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni, a Democrat, will face Shelter Island Town Attorney Stephen Kiely, a Republican, in the race to replace outgoing state Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. (D-Sag Harbor), who is not seeking re-election after three decades in office representing the state’s 1st Assembly District that spans the South Fork, Shelter Island and the eastern half of the North Fork. The debate is scheduled for 7 p.m. October 7.

In the second debate, two-term state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), whose 1st state Senate District represents the entire East End, will face Democratic challenger Sarah Anker, a former Suffolk County legislator who was term-limited last year. That debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. on October 21.

In the third debate, freshman U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point), whose district also spans all of the Hamptons and the North Fork, faces Democratic challenger John Avlon, a former CNN broadcaster who owns a home in Sag Harbor. That debate is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on October 21.

No debate has been scheduled yet in the matchup between state Assemblywomen Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead), who represents the western portion of the North Fork in the state’s 2nd Assembly District and faces Tricia Chiaramonte, the Democratic nominee who is a Suffolk County OTB official from Manorville.

Election Day is November 5 and the early voting period begins October 26, which is also the state’s voter registration deadline. For more information on where to register and local polling locations, visit suffolkvotes.com