We are not endorsing any of the candidates in Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary election. It’s a tough choice. What at first seemed like a relatively inexperienced field of challengers to Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik has become quite strong over the last year or more.

While only one of them has prior experience holding elected office — that would be former St. Lawrence County legislator Tedra Cobb — by now none of them are rookies. Patrick Nelson, Emily Martz, Katie Wilson and Dylan Ratigan have knocked on enough doors, debated each other in enough candidate forums, given enough interviews and done enough fundraising, research and organizing that by now they’re all veterans, with solid command of politics and policy. That’s not to say they wouldn’t have a lot to learn in Washington, but every new member of Congress does.

We have to say, however, we are disappointed they chose not to advertise in newspapers. The newspapers of northern New York have been jam-packed full of news of the candidates — we and three other dailies shared stories to give readers even more information — but no ads from them. Newspapers are the main place people go to inform their votes. Newspaper readers are much more likely to be voters than television viewers, social media users or random people driving by yard signs are. They are simply where the action is for political news. It’s too bad the candidates haven’t chosen to take advantage of this powerful platform, and also to support local journalism. Without it, the very fabric of democracy would be threatened.

Naturally, we urge all registered Democrats in northern New York to vote Tuesday. Because it’s a tough choice, you really need to know the candidates and what they’ve said and done. That has been well documented in the pages of the Enterprise, and we’ve made it easier for you to do a little last-minute reading. On the homepage of AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com, on the left side, you’ll find two categories you can click on. One, called “2018 Democratic primary profiles,” contains an in-depth interview with each of the five candidates. If you want to dig deeper, click on the second category, “2018 Congress race.” There, we have compiled all the news articles we’ve published on this contest, going back to the beginning of 2017.

You also might browse through the letters to the editor and read other people’s opinions and endorsements of candidates.

The journalist’s role in the democratic process is to ensure that voters are well-informed, and we take that job seriously.

Meanwhile, the citizen’s role is to become informed and then to vote. If you’re a registered Democrat, now is the time to do that. We understand that it can be hard to make up your mind, but nevertheless, it is your responsibility to do so. Make the effort, and let our coverage help you.