It's a little-known office that wields patronage and power. 

Surrogate Court appoints private attorneys who can earn hefty fees handling the property of people who die without wills, or acting as guardians for children.

Staten Island's surrogate, Robert Gigante, is retiring, creating a wide-open race for his job.

From the perspective of a lawyer, this is a pretty good job. And the judge makes the decision about who gets the job," said Richard Flanagan of the College of Staten Island.

In the other boroughs, the Democratic nominee for surrogate always wins because of the party's huge registration edge. But on Staten Island, the two major parties are competitive.. making this a close race.

North Shore Assemblyman Matthew Titone, a Democrat, is running against South Shore Assemblyman Ron Castorina, a Republican. And it's gotten nasty. 

"Many Staten Islanders have concerns over my opponent's past record,his conduct, not just one woman but with even a colleague, his associations with even a, right now an alleged criminal. There's a lot surrounding my opponent that should give people very serious pause for concern," Titone said.

Titone points to Facebook conversations obtained by NY1 last year revealing lawyer Richard Luthmann's creation of misleading Facebook accounts about prominent borough politicians.

Screenshots show Castorina knew about the misleading account created in the name of his then-opponent for Assembly, Janine Materna. The account contained sexually explicit images, and is being investigated by a special prosecutor.

Castorina has distanced himself from the account and calls it a non-issue in this race. 

"I don't think that there's any question about my integrity, my character and everything I've done for my community. People know me, they trust me, they like me," he said. "I'm not gonna get into the mud with Matt Titone. He's a good man." 

"The borough's north shore is heavily Democratic. Its south shore is heavily Republican. Political experts say the race will go to whomever is able to capture the lion's share of voters in the mid-island.

"There's a certain centrist politics that works really well there, and that can carry you both on the south shore and on the north shore," Flanagan said. 

The race will also likely hinge on who turns out to vote in the local race for Congress, and whose name is more familiar to voters who know little about the post.