Control of the County Legislature will be at stake in the November general election, and in three primaries on September 15, Democrats will select the Democratic candidates who will be on the ballot in November.

This year's County Legislature election is an extremely important one. In 2007, Democrats hoped to win control of the legislature. They came up one legislator short - and the legislature's record since then provides a stark example of why this community needs change. The Republican-led legislature continues to shut out Democratic voices and proposals. It presided over the disastrous selection process for a new public defender. It was complicit when County Executive Maggie Brooks rammed through her last-minute, revenue-sharing Fair Plan, which a court later threw out. The Republican leader was complicit in the political shenanigans surrounding the first search for a new Monroe Community College president. And in general, the Republican caucus serves more as a lapdog for the Brooks administration than a watchdog.

The legislature needs a bright, creative, strong Democratic caucus. In our endorsements in the three Democratic primaries, we looked for people who can help lead their caucus if Democrats are in the majority. And we looked for people who, if Democrats remain in the minority, will be able to work with Republicans but will also be aggressive, will argue and criticize effectively, and will help organize the community around crucial reforms.

Our choices: Nora Bredes in the18th district, Carrie Andrews in the 21st, and Saul Maneiro in the 29th.

(Election-district lines are not clean cut. Registered Democrats who aren't sure which district they're in can go to the voter-information part of the county's website.

18TH DISTRICT

(Perinton and one small part of Pittsford)

Nora Bredes: Currently the director of the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Leadership at the University of Rochester, Bredes has a long history of civic and political involvement. Before moving to Rochester, she served for three terms on the Suffolk County Legislature and was executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters and of the Shoreham Opponents Coalition, which fought the Shoreham nuclear power plant. In Rochester and on Long Island, she has held leadership positions in a wide variety of community groups, particularly those focusing on women and young people.

She is smart, experienced, thoughtful, and a forceful speaker, and she would be a strong opposition voice for the Democrats. She would also add something this legislature sorely needs: another woman representative. Incredibly, of the 29 legislators, only four are women.

Bob Antonitis, Bredes's opponent in the primary, is a retired General Motors employee now self-employed as an auto inspector. Like Bredes, he has a background in public service, serving for 24 years as a Town Meeting representative in Milton, Massachusetts, and, locally, as Perinton Democratic leader from 2003 to 2006. He understands the county's challenges and is certainly qualified to serve on the County Legislature. Our sense, however, is that Bredes would be a stronger legislator at a time when the Brooks administration needs a forceful watchdog.

21st district

(Eastside city neighborhoods north of East Avenue to the Bausch and Lomb and Douglass Middle School area)

Carrie Andrews: Completing her first term on the County Legislature, Andrews has a degree from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and is a labor-relations specialist with New York State United Teachers. On the legislature, she is a member of the Ways and Means and the Human Services Committees.

A bright, young, and aggressive legislator, she asks good, critical questions, and has assumed a leadership role in the Democratic caucus. She is also independent; she was one of only three legislators who voted against the "taxpayer protection act," which limits how much the county can increase non-mandated spending. And she has worked with Republican Jeff Adair to draft and pass legislation intended to provide more fiscal oversight of the county budget.

Jan Bowers: A patent paralegal, Bowers has been active in her neighborhood associations and at her church and has been a literacy volunteer. She is certainly familiar with the role of a County Legislator, but she doesn't show the passion or the knowledge of issues that we hoped. She says she can't comment on the county's budget or on Brooks' controversial Fair Plan because she wasn't serving on the legislature when they were approved and she wasn't paying close attention to them. She says she is running because she sees a need for services in her district and because her faith is calling her to serve her community.

Bowers' candidacy has been criticized by some Democrats, who accused her of using Republican operatives to help her campaign. And for several weeks, she declined our request to be interviewed, communicating only by e-mail and saying through a spokesperson that she wanted to be able to respond in writing to questions we submitted. While she might be an adequate legislator, her opponent's knowledge and forcefulness far outweigh hers.

29th district

(The city's northeastern-most neighborhoods)

Saul Maneiro: A bright, experienced candidate, Maneiro served on the staff of Richard Dollinger when he was in the State Senate and is now a program officer at the Rochester Area Community Foundation. His community service includes being a tutor and mentor for young people and serving as president of Young Democrats. He is familiar with county government, public policy, and the problems of the region and has creative ideas about county government. He wants the county to be a regional advocate on the issue of consolidation, for instance. We believe he has the potential to be an exceptional elected official.

Michael Patterson, Maneiro's opponent in this race, did not respond to our repeated requests for an interview and for personal information.