The year has just gotten underway and already it is election season. The Mountaintop Progressives activist group is hosting a State Senate Candidate Forum for Democrats running in District 46 where Republican incumbent George Amedore is retiring. Amedore is one of nine Republican incumbents in the State Senate not running for reelection. Democrats have not won in the district since the last time there was an open seat in a presidential election year, in 2012. Democrats Michelle Hinchey, Gary Greenberg, and Jeff Stark are running, and event is at Villa Vosilla in Tannersville Jan. 20. The primary election is June 23. In other election news, Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan, a Democrat, endorsed Pete Buttigieg for president Jan. 14.