Josh Riley and Jamie Cheney are the Democratic candidates in the upcoming primary election for the 19th Congressional District, and will be attending the Chenango County Democratic Committee fundraiser on August 13. (Photos from jamiecheney.com and joshrileyforcongress.com)

CHENANGO COUNTY — The Chenango County Democratic Committee will be hosting a fundraiser from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 13 at the Bohemian Moon, located at 103 East Main Street in Norwich.

The fundraiser will feature a Person of the Year Award, a buffet provided by the Bohemian Moon, Phatty's Bar-B-Que food truck, a door prize raffle, and the chance to meet candidates in this year's Democratic primary and general elections.

"We are having a person of the year ... he or she is a retired, very active Democrat from Chenango County. And we’re going to have a wonderful door prize, with cheese and honey and bottles of wine, a gift certificate, and stuff like that," said Chenango County Democratic Committee Member and event organizer Karol Kucinski.

"But the meat and potatoes is the hearing from different candidates, and essentially what we envision is that each candidate will speak for five or ten minutes, have them all speak, and then take questions from the audience."

In attendance will be State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, candidate for the 51st State Senate District Eric Ball, and Democratic primary hopefuls Jamie Cheney and Josh Riley, who are running for the 19th Congressional District.

Attendees can choose their ticket price, set at either $35 or $50, depending on how much they would like to donate to the Democratic Committee. Tickets can be purchased by emailing Kucinski at karolkvh@hotmail.com.

The Democratic primary election is just two weeks away, on August 23. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and early voting will begin on August 13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chenango County Board of Elections. A full list of early voting dates and times can be found at www.co.chenango.ny.us/elections/.

After the primaries will be the general election on November 8. Kucinski said the Chenango County Democratic and Republican Committees will be hosting a forum on October 15, where voters will have the opportunity to meet some of the candidates in state elections.

Republican candidates for the 51st State Senate District primary election include Peter Oberacker and Terry Bernardo. There will be no Republican primary for the 19th Congressional District, with Marcus Molinaro being the only Republican candidate.

"We will for sure invite the people running for the New York Assembly, and the New York Senate, and the people running for the 19th Congressional District. Now, who else? I would like to invite one other set of candidates. Now that could be for the governor, it could be for senator," he said.

Money raised at this week's fundraiser will be used to support Democratic candidates in the general election, as well as local and state candidates in future elections.

"The fundraiser is for us, the Democrats, to raise money so we can spend it on the election and the general election. So we want to be able to support our candidates against Republican candidates," said Kucinski. "If you run county-wide, you get so much money. If you run for alderman or town board, you get so much money."

"Let’s say you’re running to be a town board member in Guilford; We would set a maximum of $200. So you spend $200 on your campaign, you bring us your receipts, and we give you the money, and after you’ve spent the $200 you can always ask for more," he added. "But we expect to be spending it over the years for aldermen, and town board members, and county offices."

However, the fundraiser is not only meant as a way to raise money for the Democratic Committee. It will also serve as a way to bring area Democrats together, and foster excitement and involvement in this year's elections.

"If we raise a couple thousand dollars then we can spend it come the election, and that’s what we want to do, and we thought this would be a way to do it for people to get together, to meet the candidates, maybe generate a little enthusiasm for the upcoming elections, and then to generate a little enthusiasm for the candidates as well," said Kucinski. "We hope to make this the annual fundraiser. So we hope to do this year in, year out to build up our coffers and to become more competitive in the county."

Questions about the upcoming fundraiser can be directed to chair@chenangoconydems.com.