The Madison County Board of Elections has announced a change in two of Cazenovia’s polling places for all future elections. Cazenovia voters in Districts 4 and 5 will now vote at St. James Church instead of in the Cazenovia High School auxiliary gymnasium.
The retirement of Madison County Court Judge Biagio DiStefano this past April left a vacancy on the county bench that four candidates currently hope to fill. Their first electoral test will come Thursday, Sept. 10, when the Democrat, Republican and Conservative parties all will hold primary elections.
Patrick O’Sullivan and Kathleen A. Rapasadi are both running for the Republican and Conservative party nominations; while Marian J. Cerio and Suzanne Knight DeBottis are both running for the Democrat Party nomination.
Cerio has already received the endorsement of the Green and Working Families parties for the November election, and will be on the ballot under those lines, according to her campaign.
The four candidates, in alphabetical order, are:
Cerio is a resident of Canastota who has practiced law for more than 30 years from her office in Canastota, focusing on all aspects of family court in addition to wills, real estate and misdemeanor criminal and traffic matters. She is a member of the Attorney for the Child panel in both the Third and Fourth Judicial Departments. In addition to representing clients in criminal and civil matters, she has tried cases in state supreme court throughout Central New York and the Mohawk Valley. Cerio is president of the Board of Education for the Canastota School District and past president of the Madison County Bar Association.
DeBottis is a resident of Oneida who maintains a private practice and represents the Madison County Department of Social Services in providing legal counsel for Child Welfare Fair Hearings. Her resume includes serving as an attorney with an Oneida legal firm and for the Service Employees International Union. She is a member of the Madison County Bar Association and has served on its board of directors.
O’Sullivan has been town judge in Nelson for 10 years and village judge in Cazenovia for the past four years. For 22 years he has served as a trial attorney, litigating civil and criminal matters across all of Upstate New York. He also serves as an adjunct professor of law at the Syracuse University College of Law and adjunct professor in the Criminal Justice Department at Morrisville State College. O’Sullivan has received the endorsement of the Madison County Republican Committee to be the party’s candidate for county judge in November.
Rapasadi has served as a private practice attorney for 20 years and as a Madison County assistant district attorney for 17 years. She has worked as the village of Munnsville attorney since 1995, and is a former president of the Madison County Bar Association. She is a lifelong resident of Madison County and resides in Canastota. Rapasadi has received the endorsement of the Madison County Conservative Party to represent them on the ballot in November.
If Rapasadi, Cerio or DeBottis are elected, it would be the first time a woman was chosen to serve as county court judge since Madison County was founded in 1806.
Primary Day is Thursday, Sept. 10. The polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Only voters enrolled in a party can vote in that party’s primaries.
The Madison County Court Judge position is a 10-year term.
For information about voting in the September primary or the November general election, visit the Madison County Board of Elections website at madisoncounty.ny.gov/board-elections or call the board at 366-2231.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
