Over the past few days, the race between incumbent Steve Israel and challenger Stephen Labate has gotten considerable attention.
The opponents in the 3rd Congressional District race were embroiled in a controversy over the short sale of Israel's Dix Hills home.
Labate, R-Deer Park, claimed Israel got special treatment in the short sale. Many commenters have chimed in saying they would not be treated so well by their bank.
A spokeswoman for Israel, D-Dix Hills, called Labate's claims a "cheap political attack" and said the home sale is the result of the six-term congressman's divorce. Patch reported exclusively that the original story in the New York Post quoted an expert who was actually a volunteer in Labate's campaign.
Meanwhile, Labate was endorsed by R-Seaford, who has worked with Israel on many issues. Labate wrote about the endorsement in his blog on Patch.
It gets more interesting: A third-party candidate has emerged, Libertarian Michael McDermott of Riverhead, is on the November ballot and is seeking an invitation to a televised debate scheduled for Oct. 23. We'll have more on this in a developing story later in Patch.
We would like your reasoned opinions on these issues and the race overall. Please tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
