Democrats in New York's First Senate District will go to the polls on Thursday to pick their party's candidate to challenge longtime Republican incumbent Sen. Kenneth LaValle, of Port Jefferson.
Bridget Fleming, of Noyac, and Jennifer Maertz, of Rocky Point, are going head-to-head for the nomination.
Maertz is a litigation attorney who graduated from St. John’s University, Touro Law School, and received her MBA from the New York Institute of Technology. She has a history serving on local civic and youth council boards.
She lost the 2010 election to LaValle by a 2-1 ratio after she stepped into the race late in the game to replace now-Deputy County Executive Regina Calcaterra, who was kicked off the ballot due to a residency qualification challenge.
In February, Maertz announced her intention to give it another go.
Fleming, a Southampton Town councilwoman, formally announced her Senate run in late May. She already has the endorsement of the Working Families Party.
Fleming first entered politics during a Southampton Town Board race in 2009. Although she lost that bid, four months later she was elected to the board in a special election. She was then re-elected in 2011. She also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
She is a matrimonial attorney and a graduate of Hunter College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Fleming had a career as an assistant district attorney, working in the sex crimes prosecution unit and later as chief of the welfare fraud unit under New York District Attorney Robert Morganthau. She served as an ADA in New York from 1991 to 2000.
Fleming was the managing attorney of the City Bar Pro Bono Project from 2000 to 2001, worked in the Law Office of Harvey Arnoff from 2001 to 2002 and started her own law office in 2008. She also served in the Noyac Citizens Advisory Committee prior to joining the Town Board.
Learn more about Maertz at her campaign website, jennifermaertz.com. Read up on Fleming at her website, flemingforsenate.com.
RELATED: Fleming, Maertz Face Off in Primary Debate
According to an 11-day pre-primary campaign finance disclosure, Maertz holds $3,588 in the bank. Fleming's campaign has $57,554.
Only registered members of the Democratic Party may vote in the primary Sept. 13. To check your registration and find your polling place, click here to go to the Suffolk County Board of Elections website.