Valdina for Judge Committee

Christopher T. Valdina

For

Cayuga County

Court Judge

Meet Chris

Born Auburn, NY

Wife: Hilary D. Valdina (Karlik), paramedic and U.S. Army Veteran

Lifetime resident of Cayuga County

Chris and Hilary live in the Town of Brutus

Parents: Dr. Jon Valdina (Dentist, retired) & Mrs. Diana Valdina (Professor of English at CCC-retired; currently teaching part-time in adjunct role)

Background

For the past 27 years, Chris has worked as an assistant prosecutor in the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office. He was hired as an Assistant District Attorney in 1998. In 2008, he was promoted to Chief Assistant District Attorney. In that role, Chris has overseen major felony prosecutions and assisted in supervising assistant prosecutors.

Chris is a Cayuga County native and lifelong resident. He currently lives in the Town of Brutus with his wife Hilary, a paramedic and U.S. Army Reserve Veteran. He is a member of the Auburn High School Class of 1990. He is a graduate of Cornell University and Boston College Law School.

Qualifications and Experience

Valdina has 27 years’ experience as a courtroom attorney, with nearly 50 jury trials to verdict.
He has tried serious cases including murder, kidnapping, arson, child sexual abuse, and assaults on police and correction officers.
He is equally comfortable before appellate judges and juries.
For 27 years, he has led appeals for the District Attorney’s Office.
He has successfully defended at least 100 convictions on appeal.
He has also successfully appealed adverse rulings on behalf of the People.
His appeals have led to reinstated convictions and reversals of rulings that suppressed evidence.
He has briefed and argued four cases before the New York Court of Appeals.
In September 2025, he was sworn in as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA).
He is cross-designated to prosecute federal cases in the Northern District of New York.
For nearly three decades, he has been a go-to legal resource for prosecutors, law enforcement, and the courts.
He has taught at the NYS Academy of Fire Science.
He has served as an adjunct Criminal Justice professor at Cayuga Community College.
In 2018, he was named Appellate Prosecutor of the Year by the NY Prosecutor’s Training Institute.

Bringing Integrity, Knowledge and Experience to the Bench

Chris now seeks to continue to serve our community in a new role—as Cayuga County Court Judge. In addition to presiding over felony criminal cases, the County Court Judge reviews all pistol permit applications and is assigned to preside over cases in Family Court and Supreme Court.

Chris’s courtroom experience, legal scholarship, and longtime service to our community prepare him for the role of County Court Judge. He looks forward to bringing personal integrity and fairness to the bench. He sincerely believes that a Judge should treat everyone in his courtroom with dignity and respect, and give all parties to a case their opportunity to be heard. At the same time, Valdina believes that a Judge should be both fair and decisive, and at all times, in control of the courtroom.

In the role of County Court Judge, Valdina also looks forward to working with Cayuga County’s Town and Village Justices and to improving the experience of victims, witnesses, and others involved in the justice system.

Seeking Your Vote

Chris is prepared to serve and now humbly seeks the vote of all citizens of Cayuga County for Cayuga County Court Judge. The first step in the election process is to secure lines on the ballot. He looks forward to seeking the Republican and Conservative lines at each party’s upcoming nomination meeting.

“I have spent my career fighting for justice in Cayuga County courtrooms. I have worked with members of law enforcement, crime victims, and witnesses to protect our community and obtain justice,” Valdina said. “As your Cayuga County Court Judge, I will bring steady judgment, respect for precedent, and a commonsense approach to the bench — always mindful that courtroom decisions affect real people and real families.”

“As Judge, I will apply the law fairly and faithfully — not make it,” Chris continued. “Our courts must be efficient and accessible, protect the innocent, and hold the guilty accountable. That is government at its best.”