Tell Us: 3rd District Race Heating Up?

Over the past few days, the race between incumbent Steve Israel and challenger Stephen Labate has gotten considerable attention.

The opponents in the 3rd Congressional District race were embroiled in a controversy over the short sale of Israel's Dix Hills home.

Labate, R-Deer Park, claimed Israel got special treatment in the short sale. Many commenters have chimed in saying they would not be treated so well by their bank.

A spokeswoman for Israel, D-Dix Hills, called Labate's claims a "cheap political attack" and said the home sale is the result of the six-term congressman's divorce. Patch reported exclusively that the original story in the New York Post quoted an expert who was actually a volunteer in Labate's campaign.

Meanwhile, Labate was endorsed by R-Seaford, who has worked with Israel on many issues. Labate wrote about the endorsement in his blog on Patch.

It gets more interesting: A third-party candidate has emerged, Libertarian Michael McDermott of Riverhead, is on the November ballot and is seeking an invitation to a televised debate scheduled for Oct. 23. We'll have more on this in a developing story later in Patch.

We would like your reasoned opinions on these issues and the race overall. Please tell us your thoughts in the comments below.