Suffolk's latest judicial dropout

Call it the year of the short-lived judicial candidate.

Republican Lane Bubka of Riverhead, nominated only last Monday to run for state Supreme Court justice, has declined his party’s nomination.

Bubka's exit represents the latest judicial dropout. They include Suffolk County Republicans’ first Surrogate's judge candidate, Damon Hagen, Conservative District Court Judge Marian Tinari and Family Court Judge Deborah Poulos, both of whom also dropped out of the Suffolk Surrogate’s race.

However, Poulos and Tinari, wife of Suffolk Conservative Party chairman Frank Tinari, exited the Surrogate's race only to get Democratic, Conservative and Independence Party backing for state Supreme Court, which carries a 14-year term instead of the 10-year term for Surrogate's Court.

County Republicans must fill the vacancy left by Bubka's withdrawal by Tuesday.