Parties nominate judgeship candidates

Republicans and Democrats in separate conventions last night named a half dozen candidates each for State Supreme Court judgeships.

Nominees will run in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Republicans at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Hauppauge nominated incumbent justices Peter Skelos of Rockville Centre and James Catterson of Mt. Sinai, according to GOP officials. Skelos is the brother of State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Catterson is the son of the late Suffolk District Attorney James M. Catterson Jr. Both serve in the appellate division.

Officials also nominated Nassau Deputy Comptroller Joy Watson of Hempstead Village, a former Nassau prosecutor; Nassau County Court Judge Christopher Quinn of Wantagh; Suffolk County Court Judge Gary J. Weber, of Westhampton Beach; and attorney Rudolph Cartier, a Conservative Party member from Mt. Sinai.

Democrats at the Plainview Holiday Inn nominated Justice Leonard B. Austin, who serves in the appellate division, according to party officials. Officials also nominated Family Court Judge Hope Zimmerman of Westbury, currently an acting state Supreme Court justice and supervising judge of the matrimonial part; North Hempstead District Court Judge Sondra Pardes, of New Hyde Park; and attorney Leonard Steinman of Glen Head, a member of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the state monitoring board that controls Nassau's finances.

Democrats also nominated former County Court Judge Richard Ambro of Wading River, son of the late Rep. Jerome Ambro, and Huntington Town Attorney John Leo of Huntington Station.