David Hayes (Provided photo)

SARANAC LAKE — David Hayes will be the sole candidate on the ballot for an open Harrietstown justice seat with a four-year term in the Nov. 8 election, and in the past week he’s garnered nominations from both the local Republican and Democratic parties.

Hayes said he sought both major party endorsements because he believes being a judge is not a political position. Living in town, he said, he knows a lot of Democrats and Republicans.

Ken McLaughlin held this justice seat from 2014 until this past February, when he died unexpectedly at the age of 73.

“I was close to Ken McLaughlin. I was pretty devastated by his passing,” Hayes said. “I knew there was a vacancy and I had heard that there wasn’t a terrible amount of interest.”

He lives in Saranac Lake and said he always wanted to be a part of the community.

“I practiced in that court for, gosh, probably 12 years now,” Hayes said. “It was home. It was available. It just kind of aligned.”

Hayes said the state gave him permission to run after determining that being on the town bench would not interfere with his current job in the county court.

He was formerly the chief assistant district attorney for Franklin County. When District Attorney Craig Carriero was elected to be the county’s county/family/surrogate court judge, he brought Hayes along as the law clerk. Hayes said he likes this job.

“I cannot work both at the same time … but I can hold both positions at the same time,” Hayes said.

He was asked about balancing the two roles. The two town justices are on-call often, taking two weeks on, two weeks off. The hours have deterred other people from running for this position.

As chief assistant district attorney, Hayes said he joked that he was always on call.

“It’s nothing new to me, being on call,” he said. “Answering phone calls in the middle of the night has been part of my life basically since I became an attorney.”

He also previously worked as a public defender.

Hayes said he is “well-versed in the courts” and has practiced law in his community.

He thinks of himself as a “people person,” and, if elected to the bench, wants to “treat people fairly.”

The deadline for independent petitions has passed and the Franklin County Board of Elections did not receive any independent petitions for this position.

McLaughlin was two years into a four-year term on the bench. McLaughlin became a Saranac Lake village judge in 2010. When the village court dissolved in 2014, he became a town judge.

Since his death, the town’s only other justice, Allen Wright, has been filling in, and Tupper Lake Town Justice Leonard Young has been traveling over to the town court to take on part of the case load.

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Caucuses

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Harrietstown Republican Committee Chair Ray Scollin said the GOP caucus on July 19 lasted 15 minutes. Though Hayes is a Democrat, it was an easy choice for them to nominate him, Scollin said.

He said Hayes is “immensely qualified.”

“There was no problem with supporting the best candidate for Saranac Lake,” Scollin said. “He’s of high moral, ethical character … and we’re happy he put his name forward.

“Had there been a Republican I don’t know if it would have been the same outcome because we think choice is good,” he added. “But we didn’t have a candidate, so everybody easily voted that way.”

Because he’s not a Republican, Hayes was not able to speak at the caucus, but Scollin said several Republicans spoke on his behalf and after receiving the nomination, he answered questions from the party.

“He said that he has a lot of conservative values as far as the Second Amendment went and support for the police,” Scollin said. “Things that kind of aligned with our party.”

Hayes said he knows a lot of law enforcement in the community.

Harrietstown Democrat Party Chair and town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach said the Tuesday caucus was “uneventful.” Hayes was the only person seeking the position and was selected as the Democratic nominee.

Mallach said Hayes spoke about his experience on the Saranac Lake police reform committee in 2020 and 2021. Hayes said this was a “great experience” and he was proud of the suggestions and additions the committee produced.

“The committee’s work primarily focused on police interaction with the community prior to court proceedings, but I think some of our goals translate to all positions that deal with the public,” Hayes wrote in a text.

Mallach also said Hayes talked about getting resources for people struggling with substance abuse, mental health or domestic violence.

Hayes said he can’t directly bring in resources, but he can use them through “creative sentencing.” This could mean using conditional discharge — a legal term for when someone is guilty of a minor crime but not formally convicted as long as they meet certain conditions. This could involve probation or referrals to other services.

“He said you can always get more resources,” Mallach said. “Sometimes through the court system you can steer people in a certain direction.”

Hayes said more of these resources are cropping up in the area and that he knows about them and can use them.

“I’m not terribly adversarial. If there’s a compromise I look for that compromise,” Hayes said. “I generally believe people are good people. I think in the North Country we deal, probably 90% of the time, with people who simply make a mistake. There’s not a lot of evil people in the world.”

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Voting information

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Voters will head to the polls to choose a Harrietstown justice on Election Day, Nov. 8. Polls on that day will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voters will also vote for a Franklin County District 7 legislator, governor, lieutenant governor, state attorney general, state comptroller, state senator, state assembly member, congressperson and U.S. senator.

Early voting stations will be open at the Franklin County Courthouse — 355 West Main St., Suite 161, Malone — from Oct. 29 to Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 1 and 3, the offices will be open from noon to 8 p.m.

The last day to apply to register to vote ahead of this election is Oct. 14 and applications by mail must be received by Oct. 19.

The last day to change a voter address is Oct. 19.

The last day to mail an absentee ballot application is Oct. 24. The last day to deliver an absentee ballot application in person at the county offices in Malone is Nov. 7.

Absentee ballots for the Nov. 8 election must reach the county Board of Elections by close of the polls on Election Day or be postmarked no later than the day of the election and received by Nov. 15.