District court races show same matchups for November
Democratic candidate for the 2nd District Court Judge Anna Grimaldi at her Seaford home. (Aug. 28, 2013) Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
Nassau County Second District Court Judge Joy M. Watson was leading Anna M. Grimaldi, a court attorney referee at Queens County Supreme Court, 76 percent to 23.5 percent in the primary to run on the Independence party line for the Nassau County Second District Court judgeship with 99 percent of precincts reporting.
Regardless of the primary's outcome, they will face each other in the general election, where Watson will be on the ballot as a Republican and Conservative and Grimaldi will be running on the Democratic, Working Families and Green party lines.
It was one of several primary contests for third-party lines for judgeships in Nassau County and are preludes to November when many of the candidates will face each other again on other party lines, regardless of Tuesday's results.
Watson, 54, was appointed to her post in January by fellow Republican County Executive Edward Mangano and previously served as deputy comptroller under Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos. Watson served as a prosecutor under former Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon who lost in 2005 to current District Attorney Kathleen Rice. While clerking for a State Supreme Court justice, Watson challenged Rice unsuccessfully in 2009.
Before becoming a court referee, Grimaldi, 43, previously served as principal court attorney in Queens County Supreme Court from 2004 to 2012 and was in private practice before that.
In the county court judge race, four candidates are facing off for two spots on the Independence Party line and will all face each again in November. Patricia A. Harrington and David P. Sullivan are running on the Republican and Conservative lines and had large leads with 39.6 percent and 37.5 percent of the vote, respectively. Meanwhile David J. Ayres and David I. Levine are running on the Democratic and Working Families lines and have 11.3 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively. Ayres is also on the Green Party line.
The Third District judge race pits six candidates against each other for three spots on the Independence line. Erica L. Prager led with 23.1 percent. Scott H. Siller followed with 20.4 and David Goodsell had 20.1 percent. They are also on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, and Prager and Goodsell are also on the Green Party line. Elizabeth Berney trailed with 14.4 percent, Lesli P. Hiller trailed with 11.5 percent and Frank A. Doddato followed with 10.5 percent; all running on the Republican line. Berney and Doddato are also on the Conservative line.
In the Fourth District, Rhonda Erin Fischer and Marc Laykind are facing off in the Independence and Green Party primaries. Fischer was leading on both lines, with 82.6 percent on the Independence line compared to 17.1 percent for Laykind; on the Green line she led 46.7 percent to 26.7 percent.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had Judge Joy M. Watson serving on the wrong Nassau County district court.
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Sarra Sounds Off, Ep.16: From Island to island, how football helped overcome tragedy Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks to Carey football player James McGrath about how he has persevered after losing his parents at a young age, and to the Lahainaluna (Hawaii) High School football coach about how his team persevered after the Maui wildfires of 2023, plus a behind-the-scenes look at the All-Long Island teams photo shoot.
