What to know about the Democratic primary in NY's 18th District

Three Democrats are seeking their party's nomination in the reshaped Hudson Valley 18th Congressional District, which crosses three counties and was left with no incumbent candidate after a judge set New York's new district lines in May.

Competing in the 18th District primary on Aug. 23 − and 10 days of early voting that start Saturday − are Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan; Aisha Mills, a political strategist and cable-news pundit and host who lives in Newburgh; and Moses Mugulusi, a state financial examiner from the village of Florida.

The winner will face Colin Schmitt, a Republican assemblyman from New Windsor, in the Nov. 8 general election.

The district takes in all of Orange County, much of Dutchess and part of Ulster. Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has represented Orange County and part of Dutchess − along with Putnam and part of Westchester − for the last decade, but the redrawn lines put his Putnam home in the new 17th District. He chose to run for re-election in the 17th District, creating a late opening for other Democrats in the new 18th.

Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 46,000 in the district, an area Joe Biden won by eight percentage points in 2020. In spite of that enrollment edge, the Cook Political Report rates the seat a toss-up in November.

Competition:Ulster's Pat Ryan faces two Dem rivals for NY18 nomination after petitions filed

New lines:Court-imposed NY congressional map upends Hudson Valley races

Primaries:A primer on New Yorke's congressional and state Senate primaries on Aug. 23

Who's running in the 18th District Democratic primary?

Pat Ryan

Ryan, an Ulster native and 2004 West Point graduate who served two combat tours in Iraq as an Army intelligence officer, first ran for Congress in 2018, finishing second in a seven-way Democratic primary for the 19th District. He has been county executive for three years.

In an interview, he touted his experience leading soldiers of diverse backgrounds and steering Ulster through the pandemic. Under his leadership, he said, the county secured a developer to revitalize an IBM campus that has sat vacant for 27 years; cut the gas tax by 50%; and increased funding for mental health care and other services without raising taxes.

Ryan, a 40-year-old Gardiner resident endorsed by the progressive Working Families Party, said his priorities include increasing support for veterans and leveling the playing field for small businesses to compete with large corporations. He supports canceling student debts of up to $10,000 and perhaps eliminating all debt in return for national service.

Aisha Mills

Mills, 44, said she's running to represent working-class values and "people left out of the mainstream political discussion."

She argued her two decades of experience in Washington − studying housing policy and other national issues, and working to elect candidates of color and LGBTQ candidates − made her the most qualified Democrat in the race, and the one most likely to inspire the Democratic base to vote in November. Her top priorities include increasing affordable housing.

"I don't just use slogans," said Mills, who led the successful campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in D.C. in 2009, two years before New York took the same step. "My values are reflective of the work that I have done for 20 years of my career."

Moses Mugulusi

Mugulusi, 52, is an immigrant from Uganda who works for the state Department of Financial Services and was a Medicaid auditor before then. Campaigning with no paid staff and virtually no fundraising, Mugulusi touts his commitment to progressive causes such as Medicare for all, free public college and reducing bank overdraft fees.

"I'd be strongly advocating for people," he said in an interview. "I'm not here for corporations. I'm not here for my own welfare."

How much have candidates raised in the 18th District race?

Ryan is miles ahead in fundraising, having collected a whopping $1 million in his first six weeks as a candidate and another roughly $500,000 over the next month, according to his campaign. Mills had raised around $40,000 and Mugulusi just $750, leaving his campaign about $5,400 in debt. Mills said she got a late start on fundraising because the state Board of Elections invalidated her candidate petition and she had to get it reinstated in court.

Ryan is running in two congressional races on Aug. 23: the 18th District Democratic primary and a special election to serve for four months in the 19th District seat.

He and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican, are running in that special election to finish the two-year term of former Rep. Antonio Delgado, the Rhinebeck Democrat who stepped down in May after being appointed lieutenant governor.

Where can I vote in the 18th District primary?

Orange County will open three polling stations − in the cities of Middletown, Newburgh and Port Jervis − for early voting and 24 sites on Aug. 23. Dutchess has seven early-voting sites, and Ulster has six.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 23.

For a list of early voting and Election Day polling places for your address, visit voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: NY18: 3 Democrats compete in Aug. 23 congressional primary