Chayes, 66, of Smithtown, is running on the Independence party line. He is serving his first term as chairman of the town planning board. A retired Suffolk County legislative aide, Chayes graduated from Salem College with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1974. He is married and has two children.

Chayes said that, if elected, he would bring to the clerk’s office the same approach he has used on the planning board: “Would I want that in my neighborhood? Is it good for the town?” Part of his mission, he said, would be to support the current supervisor’s “tightfisted budget policies.” Chayes also pledged, if elected, that he would hold no outside jobs.

Puleo, 63, of Nesconset, is seeking his fourth term as town clerk. He appears on the Conservative and Republican party lines. He is also a six-term commissioner in the Nesconset Fire District and runs a property management business in St. James. Puleo earned an associate degree in general studies from Suffolk County Community College. He is married and has three stepchildren.

Puleo said he would continue to “streamline” the clerk’s office by uploading public records to the town website, a project he said would save taxpayer money and increase public access. He said he would continue to pursue grants to aid the town, its fire districts and three villages in record-keeping, he said. “We continue to get away from paper.”

Smiloff, 36, of Smithtown, is an assistant Suffolk County attorney who is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Women’s Equality party lines. Smiloff, who ran unsuccessfully for the position of highway superintendent last year, grew up in Smithtown Pines. He graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a law degree from Touro Law Center.

Smiloff said he would open the clerk’s office at 8 a.m., instead of 9 a.m., to better serve residents’ work schedules. He said the change could be made at little cost by staggering the schedules of department employees. He would offer parking permits for people with disabilities online and cut the cost to residents of obtaining official town documents online by bypassing the outside vendor who now offers that service.