Election Day is Nov. 8

An important change regarding absentee voting will be in effect for the November general election. Effective Jan. 1, 2022, an eligible voter may not cast a ballot on a machine at a poll site after the Board of Elections has sent a requested absentee ballot to the voter, regardless of whether the absentee ballot was delivered by the postal service or sent back to the board. The voter may still complete an affidavit ballot at the poll site.

Locally on the ballot, New York State assemblyman Fred Thiele (D) will be up for reelection against newcomer Peter Ganley (R).

Fred W. Thiele is a lifelong resident of Sag Harbor, where he currently lives with his wife, NancyLynn. He has three children and three grandchildren.

He is a 1971 graduate of Pierson High School and attended Cornell University and is a 1976 graduate of Southampton College of Long Island University. In 1979, he received his law degree from Albany Law School. In 1980, he was admitted to the bar in the State of New York.

He began his career in government service in 1975 after he was selected by his college to participate in the New York State Assembly Intern Program. Upon graduation from law school in 1979, he became counsel to then-assemblyman John Behan of Montauk. From 1982–1987, he was Southampton town attorney.  In 1987, he was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature. In 1991, Thiele was elected as an Independent to serve as Southampton Town supervisor. In 1995, he was then elected to the New York State Assembly to fill the seat vacated by assemblyman John Behan. Thiele is currently serving his 13th term in the New York State Assembly.  Thiele has also been very involved in transportation with a focused on affordable housing. He also serves as the chairman of the Assembly Local Governments Committee and serves as a member of the Rules Committee, Environmental Conservation Committee, Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee, and Transportation Committee.

Peter Ganley was born and raised on Long Island and is a Southold Town resident. He has worked in the district office of congressman Lee Zeldin, assisting with both press and constituent services. He has also spent the majority of his adult life working to elect conservative leaders on Long Island and is an advocate for smarter government on the local, state, and federal level. He currently serves as treasurer for the Southold Town Republican Committee.

“With rising crime, rampant corruption, and the highest taxes in America, it’s clear New York State is leading in all the wrong categories. We need new leadership in Albany to get back on the right track,” his platform reads.

If elected, he hopes to implement a four-term limit on all elected officials in New York, increase public safety, safeguard the environment, and cut taxes.