10 candidates running for 7 judgeships
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Voters in five Mid-Hudson counties, including Dutchess and Orange, will elect seven justices from a field of 10 candidates for state Supreme Court seats in New York’ Ninth Judicial District.
The candidates on the Democratic line are Hal B. Greenwald, Kathie E. Davidson, William Giacomo, David F. Everett, Barry E. Warhit, Joan B. Lefkowitz and Thomas P. Zugibe.
On the Republican line are James F. Reitz, Phillip A. Grimaldi, Robert H. Freehill and Davidson.
The Ninth Judicial District comprises Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.
Greenwald was elected a Westchester County Family Court judge in 2010. Prior to being elected to the bench, he was a private-practice attorney, focusing on litigation involving families and small business, as well as handling matrimonial, real estate and contract cases in state Supreme Court.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lehman College, a master’s degree from St. John’s University and a law degree from Pace University School of Law. He is active in a variety of community.
Davidson was elected a Westchester County Family Court judge in November 2003. She is the lead judge of the New York State Child Welfare Court Improvement Project and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ Victim Act Model Court. She also is chairwoman of the Ninth Judicial District’s Attorneys for Children Advisory Committee.
In February, she was named administrative judge for the Ninth Judicial District.
Davidson has worked as a hearing officer for the New York City Board of Education, a law guardian for the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Division, an investigative attorney for the State Education Department, and a Westchester deputy county attorney and in private practice.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Simmons College and a law degree from Howard University.
In addition to the Democratic line, Davidson will hold the Republican, Conservative and Independence party lines.
Giacomo is an incumbent state Supreme Court justice who first was elected to the bench in 2005. Prior to his election, he was a lawyer in private practice and was a founding partner of the firm Giacomo, Gallo, Feinstein & Naistut in Rye.
He served as acting justice in the village of Port Chester from 1997 to 2001 and as Westchester County administrative hearing officer from 2001 to 2004. Since 2010, he has been an adjunct professor for the Pace University paralegal program.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a law degree from Pace University.
In addition to the Democratic line, Giacomo will hold the Independence line on the ballot.
Everett has been an acting state Supreme Court justice since 2016. He served as Westchester County Court judge from 2014 to 2015, acting Westchester County Family Court judge in 2014 and 2015 and acting Surrogate Court’s judge in 2015.
Prior to taking a seat on the bench, Everett spent 23 years in private law practice and as an assistant district attorney in Queens and Kings counties.
Warhit was appointed a Westchester County Judge in 2010 by then-Gov. David Paterson and has served as an acting state Supreme Court justice since 2013. He currently is the supervisory judge for criminal courts in the Ninth Judicial District.
He served as Tarrytown village justice from 2006 to 2010 and as acting City Court judge in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and White Plains.
Prior to being elected to the bench, Warhit served as an assistant district attorney in Manhattanan and worked as a trial lawyer in private practice in Manhattan and Westchester County.
Lefkowitz is an incumbent state Supreme Court justice seeking a third term on the bench.
She worked as a law assistant from 1974 to 1975, in private practice from 1976 to 1985 and as a hearing officer for Westchester County Family Court from 1985 until her election to Westchester Family Court in 1988. She remained a Family Court judge until she took a seat on the state Supreme Court bench in 1991.
A New Rochelle resident, Lefkowtiz holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.
In addition to the Democratic line, Lefkowitz will hold the Independence line on the ballot.
Zugibe has been the Rockland County district attorney since 2008 and worked in the office as an assistant district attorney starting in 1981.
He was appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the Moreland Commission for Public Corruption in 2013.
Zugibe is a former deputy state attorney general
assigned to the Medicaid fraud control unit and served as a village of Haverstraw justice from 1989 to 2007.
A Garnerville resident, Zugibe holds a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College and a law degree from St. John’s University School of Law.
He will hold the Democratic, Independence and Conservative party lines on ballot.
Reitz is a Putnam County judge who presides over the county’s criminal, family and surrogate’s courts. Since 2007, Reitz has also served as acting state Supreme Court justice.
Prior to his election to County Court, Reitz served from 1996 to 2006 as Carmel town justice and worked in private-practice law firms.
A Mahopac resident, Reitz received a bachelor’s degree from Mercy College and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
His name will appear on the GOP and Conservative
lines on the ballot.
Freehill has been an Orange County judge since 2007 and was appointed an acting state Supreme Court justice in 2009.
Prior to his election to County Court, Freehill served from 1985 to 2006 as a Wallkill town justice.
He also worked as a private-practice attorney, as Wallkill town attorney and as a referee in County Court and state Supreme Court.
From 1981 to 1985, he served as Wallkill police commissioner.
A resident of the town of Howells, Freehill holds a bachelor’s degree from Clark University and a law degree from Albany Law School.
In addition to the GOP line, Freehill will hold the Conservative, Independence and Reform party lines on the ballot.
Grimaldi is a privatepractice attorney from White Plains with 30 years of experience handling cases including criminal defense, insurance, taxes, foreclosures, matrimonial matters, commercial litigation, and land use and real estate transactions.
Additionally, he serves as counsel to the villages of
Sleepy Hollow and Ardsley and to the town and village of Harrison.
He also is acting prosecutor for the village of Pleasantville.
He holds a bachelor’s degree and law degree from Fordham University.
Grimaldi will hold the Republican and Conservative
lines on the ballot.
State Supreme Court justices serve 14-year terms or until they reach the age of 70, unless they are given permission by the state Office of Court Administration to serve beyond that age. All justices must step down from the bench when they reach 76 years old.