By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
November 04, 2008 04:00 am Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today as area voters will choose in contested races for president of the United States, congressional representatives, a state senator and an assembly member. In addition, voters in Otsego County will choose a judge to preside in county, family and surrogate's court _ Judge Jhilmil Ghaleb or John Lambert, both of Cooperstown. Ghaleb, who was appointed to fill a vacancy this year and confirmed by the state Senate, is an independent voter who is running on the Democratic line. Lambert, the county's chief assistant district attorney as well as Cooperstown village attorney, is a Republican also running on the Conservative line. The winner of this contest will succeed Justice Michael Coccoma, who was elected to the state Supreme Court last year. Voters in the 24th Congressional District will opt for either incumbent Democrat Michael Arcuri of Utica or Republican Richard Hanna of the towns of Otsego and Barneveld. Arcuri, former Oneida County district attorney, is seeking a second term in the Republican-leaning district. He succeeded Republican Sherwood Boehlert in 2006. Hanna, a contractor, has cast himself as an independent voice, a man who would rise above partisanship if elected. That race is similar in some respects to the one in the neighboring 20th Congressional District, which pits incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand against Sandy Treadwell, former state GOP chairman and secretary of state. Like Arcuri, Gillibrand, a former HUD lawyer, came in on the Democratic wave of 2006 and is fighting for a second term in a district that favors Republicans. Both challengers have funded much of their own efforts, with Treadwell providing $5.9 million, or 85 percent, of his campaign's $6.7 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Gillibrand, who contributed $250 to her campaign, has raised nearly $4.5 million. Hanna has contributed about $324,000, or 44 percent, to his campaign's $744,000, a number that is dwarfed by Arcuri's nearly $1.5 million, none of which came from himself, according to the Center. At the state level, Sen. James Seward, a Milford Republican and Insurance Committee chairman, is seeking a 12th term in office. Seward faces Democrat Donald Barber, a farmer, contractor and Caroline town supervisor, who talks of reforming Albany. In the 117th Assembly District, incumbent Republican Marc Butler of Newport faces Democrat Dan Carter of Little Falls. And at the top of the list are the candidates for president of the United States: Republican John McCain, a senator from Arizona; Democrat Barack Obama, a senator from Illinois; and a host of third-party nominees. Assemblyman Clifford Crouch, R-Bainbridge, and state Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, are unopposed. Various local races are also scheduled. Registered Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans in the state, though the GOP has more registered voters in Otsego and Delaware counties than the Democrats. Nationally, Obama was favored in all polls the day before the election.
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