East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana has two hurdles to overcome in Tuesday’s election: her failed Democratic primary challenge in June and her entanglement with David Gruber’s rather malicious campaign for supervisor.

East Hamptoners and a number of town trustee candidates agree that the panel’s terms of office should be staggered so that voters are not asked to decide among 18 or more hopefuls for nine seats. If that were to happen, it would be too late for this year, of course, so we have our picks. Here they are in the order their names appear on the ballot: Francis Bock, Bill Taylor, David Talmage, Susan McGraw Keber, Tim Garneau, John Aldred, Stephen Lester, Mike Martinsen, and Jim Grimes.

The opposition is correct that the Democratic Party’s hold on the East Hampton Town Board can lead to a shortfall in critical thinking. The question is whether the challengers are up to the job of mixing things up.