Martin leads race for Family Court bench

Democrat Jeffrey Martin holds a slim lead over Republican Karen Hagstrom in the race for Dutchess County Family Court.

The unofficial vote total from Tuesday’s election gave Martin 56,462 votes to Hagstrom’s 54,316 votes.

Martin, 58, is a partner with the law firm McCabe, Martin, Coleman and Ventosa. He has worked as an attorney specializing in family law for 32 years. During that time, his website states, he represented thousands of people in Family Court proceedings and tried hundreds of cases involving family matters such as child abuse and neglect, custody and domestic abuse.

He has been a Red Hook town justice since 2007 and village of Red Hook attorney since 1992. For more than 20 years, he has served as a hearing officer to area school districts.

Hagstrom, 49, is a former county attorney who, according to her website, prosecuted both child abuse and neglect cases and criminal cases involving youngsters up to the age of 16 in Family Court.

She also spent nine years in the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, where, as part of the office’s Special Victims Unit, she prosecuted domestic violence and child abuse cases.

Hagstrom is a partner in the law firm of Corbally, Gartland and Rappleyea, where she focuses on family offenses, which are domestic violence-related crimes, child custody petitions and criminal cases.

The position has a 10year term and an annual salary of $125,600.