Preble, N.Y. -- In the small lakeside town of Preble, a fight over short-term rentals has become the hot-button issue at the ballot box.

Signs promoting candidates for and against vacation rentals have popped up along Song Lake and throughout Preble, which has about 1,200 residents.

“It’s become more and more contentious, with battle lines being drawn,” said Preble Town Supervisor James Doring.

The future of short-term rentals has become the unwritten referendum in Preble’s Nov. 4 elections. Three seats on the five-person board are up for grabs, and the winners could have the power to decide the rentals’ fate.

The debate has turned things upside down, politically and personally for some.

Doring, the Republican supervisor for 16 years, is running on the Democratic line. He lost GOP su

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