BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

Republican Greg Storie is facing off against Democrat Nicole Duve for St. Lawrence County Court Judge in primary races to the Republican, Independence and Conservative lines.

Storie says his values are conservative and chose to run on the Republican, Conservative and Independence.

Storie is a Canton Central School graduate who also received degrees from SUNY Potsdam and SIU School of Law. He said he has passed the New York and Illinois Bar exams and has about 13 years of experience as an attorney.

He said he started his career as a general practitioner and has handled a wide variety of cases. He has also served as a village justice in Canton.

Storie said the next judge will face many challenges with the new laws implemented by the state.

“As a judge I can’t legislate. I have to uphold the law,” he said.

Storie said that there is a lot more work for courts now and he will follow recommendations by the unified court system.

In St. Lawrence County the judge is the authority that issues pistol permits. In St. Lawrence County Judge Jerome Richards, who retired recently, has been criticized by some for the restrictions he placed on pistol license holders.

Since his retirement, Judge Tatiana Coffinger has taken a new approach, offering residents a way to have some of their restrictions reduced by taking a pistol safety course.

Storie says as a judge he can’t make campaign promises, but said he believes the way licenses have been handled under Coffinger are better than they were in the past.

“I’m not a fan of judicial conditions. I will not make up my own conditions. That’s the job of legislators. I will follow the law and I have no plan to personally legislate from the bench,” he said.

Storie added that he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

Storie said most recently his career has been focused on protecting children from harm.

“I’ve been working to protect the most vulnerable among us from the most evil among us,” he said in an earlier interview.

Early voting can be done June 13-June 21 at St. Lawrence County Board of Elections, 80 State Highway 310 in Canton or by absentee ballot.

On-site voting will be held Tuesday June 23 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at local poll sites.

Help keep St. Lawrence County informed

Until now, advertising has provided the income to pay our news staff. But with a cutback in advertising due to the COVID-19 crisis, our ability to continue free news coverage is threatened.  Please donate to NorthCountryNow.com and North Country This Week so we can keep St. Lawrence County informed.  Thank you.