As usual this time of year, there is an upcoming election. The actual vote will be held Tuesday November 3rd, 2026. For those who also live in Honeoye Falls, the polling station is the Mendon Community Center, known to some as the Legion Hall.
We have a number of elected positions to vote on.
Up for vote are:
Governor/Lieutenant Governor: Kathy C Hochul/Adrienne E Adams or Bruce A Blakeman/Todd Hood.
Comptroller: Thomas P DiNapoli or Joseph Hernandez.
Attorney General: Letitia A James or Saritha Komatireddy.
Representative in Congress 25th District: Joseph D Morelle or Virginia E McIntyre.
State Senator 54th District: Michael Mills or Pamela A Helming.
Member of Assembly 135th District: Jen Lunsford or Kalinda Washington.
Supervisor Mendon: Joseph W Alati or Cynthia Gleason.
Superintendent of Highways: Jeff Klein or Peter Doyle.
Running unopposed are:
Brian Green for District Attorney
Michelle Booth for Town Clerk
A wiser man then I pointed out that if you don’t vote, you cede the decision to those who do. Because the election is still happening, and someone will end up in office. As I think government has all too much power over our lives, that’s really not a decision I’m comfortable giving up. Nor do I think you should be. So I would suggest doing some research, and then making sure to vote.
Personally, I ignore certain sources for information on candidates. In this era of computer generated content and rampant misinformation, you might want to as well.
I would suggest ignoring anything a candidate (or their campaign) says about their opposition. Even if they were being completely honest and accurate, they have a clear incentive to be biased. Unfortunately, also an incentive to lie and distort.
I suggest disregarding anything news sites say about any candidates. (Which I would fit into well enough, hence why I won’t be tell you who to vote for.) The unfortunate reality is that news is about attention, thus too often sensationalized. ‘If it bleeds it leads‘. There is also a rather blatant bias, to the point I assume anything political I see in any of the mainstream news is generated by the Party.
I also suggest taking anything you find online with a large amount of salt. (Again, this includes me.) With the various forms of propaganda and other nonsense, the truth can be difficult to weed out. Although there is one category of sites I would at least look at.
What the candidate says about themselves is at least worth looking over. While they will almost certainly be framing things to make themselves look good, and tell you what they think you want to hear, that in itself is useful. Because in telling me what they think I want to hear, they have given away what it is they think I care about. If I do care about it, they could still be lying. So not a conclusive data point. But if it’s something I am opposed to? Well now I know I don’t want that candidate. And since all the candidates this election are binary choices, I now know who to vote for. (Unless pushing for a write in candidate. Which would be amusing to see happen, as it would arguable take more effort then a normal campaign.)
Similarly to the candidates stance, checking their parties stance could be useful. While candidates don’t always follow the party line, it happens often enough. Same logic as above applies: In telling you what they think you want to hear, they can imply their own thinking.
An example for how that works:
Candidate offers free healthcare. My understanding of economics says that’s only possible through a combination of three methods. Taxes can go way up, to cover the cost. Quality can go way down, to fit the resources. Or force can be used to provide the service, slavery in all but name. The same logic could be applied to anything. Free housing, food, etc. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays. And if you don’t know who that someone is, it’s probably you.
An example where it doesn’t work:
Candidate is for affordable housing. ‘Affordable housing’ is pretty vague. If they mean ‘free housing’, same logic as above would apply. But they might also mean less red tape from government. Which would make it easier to build more houses, thus leading to an increase in the supply of houses. And by extension, houses become more affordable. Eventually at least, housing doesn’t just appear overnight. But in a general sense, the economics of supply and demand apply to most things that cost too much. Find a way to make more of them, and the price goes down. Find an alternative, and the price goes down (not that you care, as you’ve moved on). Again, could apply to most anything (affordable food, education, etc). The statement itself is almost useless, unless more context is provided.
The point is, do some thinking before voting. How would the candidate be able to provide what they are promoting? If they did, what would the implications of that be? Maybe you end up making the same choice. Maybe you change you mind. Either way, thinking things through should help you make better decisions.
In the interests of full disclosure: I am registered as a Republican. Of course, that does not mean the Republican party endorses anything I have said here. As always, I only speak for myself.
And those are some opinions on this upcoming election. Now you’ve got a week to figure out how you will vote (They appear to be using the same underlying system for sample ballots as last year, for whatever that is worth.) Assuming you haven’t already done the early voting thing.