Family Court Judge Candidate Diane DiStefano and Republican Committee Chairman Bill Acee. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH – On Saturday morning, July 27, the Chenango Republican County Committee listened to local candidates and selected Diane DiStefano to be the party’s official nominee for Chenango County Family Court Judge.

The new judgeship was recently approved along with dozens of others across NY State and has began local elections. The committee was acted on the NYS Legislation S.9839/A.10540 which adds another Family Court Judge in Chenango County.

Signed by Gov. Hochul on July 17, this law was enacted to help alleviate congestion in our Family Court. The law went into effect immediately and the petitioning time for the November ballot was past, so putting a candidate on the November ballot shifted to the political parties.

The certification of a Republican nominee was due on July 29. This made for a very tight timeline for the nomination process. To allow a fair and open process, the Chenango County Republican Committee chose to nominate by ballot.

In a three-hour Saturday morning meeting with most of the committee present, three Republican attorneys – Sarah E. Cowen, Diane M. DiStefano, and Zachary T. Wentworth – presented to the committee. In a very tight election for the nomination, Diane DiStefano edged out the other two candidates to earn the County Republican line in the November general election.

Republican Chair Bill Acee said, “All three of our nominees would have served Chenango County well; but we had to select only one candidate for the Republican line on the November ballot. Diane has spent her entire legal career working in the Family Court system and will make an excellent judge for our county. She has proven over and over that she can outwork anyone. Diane has the professional and personal experience to look at both sides fairly as a judge. She has my full support this November.”

“I am so pleased to see how Chenango County is coalescing behind Republicans this year,” added Acee. “It is encouraging to see so many young people coming into our party and wanting to elect Republicans.”