District 16

Per the Ulster County Charter, there are 23 legislative districts within the county, each one must contain roughly 8,710 residents (plus or minus about 2.5%). The charter states that after every decennial census, a nonpartisan commission appointed by the County Executive, the County Legislative Chairperson, and the Minority Leader of the Ulster County Legislature, will draw new legislative districts. That process happened in 2022 and resulted in the splitting up of the town of Gardiner (Gardiner has about 5,500 residents). A lawsuit was brought by the Gardiner Democratic Committee and several other plaintiffs contesting the new map, because they considered the split unfair and illegal. The plaintiffs won the suit, and the maps were redrawn under court order at the very end of 2022.

The new legislative districts take effect on January 1, 2024 and so a new legislature is being voted into office in November of 2023. The old Legislative District 16 includes (present tense because those lines are in effect until the end of this year) all of Gardiner and part of Shawangunk. The new District 16 includes all of Gardiner and two election districts (EDs #1 and #3) in the northern part of Plattekill. The “old” District 16 has been represented for many years by Tracey Bartels. Debra Gregg Clinton is running as the Democrat candidate to succeed Tracey, but in the new District 16.