Republican Andrew Raia is running for re-election to a second term as Huntington town clerk.
He is running against a newcomer, Democrat Linda Davis Valdez.
With a long career in public service, and a family legacy in town office, Raia is so well known in Huntington that his campaign signs simply give his last name.
He says that he has been training for town clerk since high school, when his mother and predecessor in office, Jo-Ann Raia, would discuss the requirements of her job around the dinner table.
It’s that history that Raia points to in arguing for his re-election, saying that the job has so many legal requirements that an uninformed person would “break six laws by lunch” if they weren’t careful.
Before he was elected to the office in November 2019, he served for nine terms in the State Assembly, and before that, held several positions as a staff member in legislative offices of the State Assembly, the State Senate, and the Suffolk County Legislature.
Though not a policy position, the clerk’s office is responsible for Town Board meetings, issuing a variety of licenses, serving as registrar of vital statistics, issues marriage and death certificates, and a host of other duties.
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