The Gardiner Democratic Committee has announced a Meet the Candidates event to give voters the opportunity to meet Gardiner Democratic Committee-endorsed candidates for local and county offices in this year’s election. The event will be held at the Gardiner Town Hall (2340 US Route 44/55 in Gardiner) on Tuesday, May 30, from 5 to 6:30 pm.

Voters are encouraged to come and meet the candidates, ask questions, raise concerns, and take away helpful information pertinent to the 2023 election.

The Democratic Committee-endorsed candidates planning to attend are:

· Emmanuel “Manny” Nneji for Ulster County District Attorney, running to succeed David Clegg, who is retiring from that post. Nneji has more than 30 years of prosecutorial experience and is currently Ulster County’s Chief Assistant District Attorney.

· Debra Gregg Clinton for Ulster County Legislature, who is running for the new Ulster County Legislative District 16 (Gardiner and Plattekill), currently represented by Chairwoman Tracey Bartels, who is not running for re-election.

· Marybeth Majestic for Gardiner Town Supervisor, a four-term incumbent running in her fifth election for that office.

· Franco Carucci for Gardiner Town Board, a project manager in the healthcare sector and an incumbent who has served on the Gardiner Town Board since 2019.

· Michael Hartner for Gardiner Town Board, a Gardiner resident and retired school superintendent who is running to replace Laura Faye Walls, the incumbent, who is retiring.

· Laura Matlow Wong-Pan for Gardiner Town Justice. Laura is a litigation attorney and arbitrator from Gardiner with 30 years of experience practicing law.

· Julia Hansen for Gardiner Town Clerk, formerly Assistant Town Clerk, running for the final two years of retiring Town Clerk Michelle Mosher’s term.