It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYc,

Welcome back everyone.

I'm It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYC.

Welcome back everyone. I'm Bridget Bergen, filling in for Brian who's off today.

Election day is right around the corner.

You may have heard me talk about it once or twice,

even if it feels quieter than in recent years

We don't have any big ticket races going on. There's no presidential or gubernatorial or mayoral elections this year, but listeners do not sleep on your local races.

While local elections often get the least amount of attention,

these positions often are the ones that touch you most directly

because some local contests can feel a little obscure I'm willing to bet some of

you don't know the judicial positions up for grabs this year.

On the show we've been decoding the ballot both here in New York City and in New Jersey,

and we're going to continue that now by looking at the various judicial races that you may encounter, particularly competitive

races incurring in Queens and Brooklyn this year.

Who are the candidates?

How are they picked?

What are the different courts with open positions?

Joining us to answer these questions and more is Rachel Holiday Smith,

Associate Editor for the city. Rachel, welcome back to WNYC.

It's a pleasure to be here, thank you.

And listeners, we may have time for a couple questions for Rachel about the judicial candidates

...