The phrase "vote early and often" evokes a special time for our democracy — an era of smoky rooms and enfranchised corpses. Our hat-wearing, cigar-chomping forebears are gone, but today's political characters are just as entertaining.

Early and often also describes our publishing schedule. From now till Election Day, we'll examine local and state races with an eye on the personalities and tactics behind them. We'll scour campaign finance reports to show you who is giving what to whom. We'll introduce you to candidates who have no chance and tense races you've never heard of. Along the way, we'll stop for frequent digressions into the larger world of New York politics, like our fastidiously overachieving mayor or our surfeit of presidential hopefuls.

New York's political correspondent, Chris Smith, will occasionally share his insight and information here. But our main contributor, Jon Dolan, has spent the past decade writing about entertainment for money and following politics for entertainment. He'll be daily sifting through official and anecdotal journalistic venues, working the phones, and greasing the Palm Pilots of power for your benefit.