LOWVILLE — The race for Lewis County judge will headline this fall’s local county elections, with a pair of third-party lines to be determined through primaries.

The town of Lyonsdale also will have contested races for supervisor and a Town Council seat.

Democrat Kevin M. McArdle and Republican Daniel R. King last week both filed designating petitions to run on their respective party lines for the county judge post in November.

Both men also filed Independence and Conservative party petitions, setting up Sept. 13 primaries for voters in those two parties.

Mr. King already has been endorsed by the county’s Independence Party committee, but party voters ultimately will decide which candidate holds that line in the general election.

The Lewis County judgeship, which also covers family and surrogate courts, has been vacant since Jan. 1, when Judge Charles C. Merrell moved up to state Supreme Court.

Mr. McArdle has spent the past nine years as court attorney for Judge Merrell. Before advising Judge Merrell, Mr. McArdle served as county attorney from 1994 to 2002 and represented nine towns and two villages as their municipal attorney.

He also previously served as a confidential law clerk for former local judges J. Robert Lynch, John S. Parker and Nathaniel B. Merrell and operated a private law practice in Lowville for 16 years.

Mr. King began working here in 1993, both in private practice and as assistant to then-Public Defender Joanne K. Smith. He subsequently served as public defender from 2002 through February 2009, when he stepped down to focus on his practice and spend time with his family. He has continued to do some work in criminal and family courts over the past few years.

In Lyonsdale, Republican Bruce Samson will challenge Republican Supervisor Marylou Hawk, who was appointed to the post in January following the resignation of the former supervisor, Samuel A. Marmon. And Republican Joan Goodfellow will challenge Republican Councilwoman Kathleen O’Brien, a past town clerk who was appointed to fill Mrs. Hawk’s seat on the Town Council.

A GOP primary will be held for both races.

Krystal A. Rupert also filed Republican, Democratic, Independence and Conservative party petitions for HMP judge, which handles cases in the towns of Harrisburg, Montague and Pinckney. Mrs. Rupert was appointed to replace the late Judge John B. Woods III, who died in April at age 75 only a few months after becoming the state’s first elected multiple-town justice.

Gary Herzig filed a Republican petition for a vacant assessor position in Croghan, while Juanita Young will run as a Republican for a vacant council seat in Montague.

In village elections, Lyons Falls Mayor Catherine Liendecker will run for re-election on the Democratic line, while Trustee Donna Dolhof will do so on the Republican line. Port Leyden Justice Anthony Cerulli, Trustee Peter Smith and Constableville Trustee Robert Greene will all run as Republicans.

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