Today is Election Day.
Chautauqua County has three County-wide races this year.
For County Executive, Republican incumbent PJ Wendel is seeking a second full term against Democrat Thomas Carle. Whoever wins will only have a three-year term as New York State has approved moving many local elections to align with statewide and legislative elections that are held in even-numbered years.
The bill signed in January 2024 was proposed to increase voter participation.
It would not apply to city elections, nor for specific elected offices protected in the state Constitution to be held in odd-numbered years, including county clerk, sheriff, district attorneys, local judges and others.
The race for County Clerk features Democrat Greg Krauza against Republican Greg Carlson. Current County Clerk Larry Barmore is not running for re-election.
Republican County Court Judge David Foley is running unopposed.
All 19 County Legislature seats are on the ballot
In Jamestown, the contested races include:
District 9 between incumbent Republican Phillip Landy and Democrat Vince DeJoy.
In District 10, incumbent Republican Jamie Gustafson faces Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg.
The District 11 race has incumbent Republican Tamara Dickey against Democrat Bob Whitney. Dickey replaced Dave Wilfong in the seat in September 2024 after Wilfong resigned in August 2024.
District 12 has incumbent Democrat Fred Larson against current Republican City Council Member At Large Jeff Russell. Russell cannot run to remain on City Council as he’s running for County Legislature
And in District 13, incumbent Democrat Tom Nelson faces Republican Joseph Tickle.
All Jamestown City Council seats are on the ballot.
In Ward 3, incumbent Democrat Regina Brackman faces Republican Seth States.
In Ward 4, incumbent Republican Joe Paterniti is running against Democrat Doug Scotchmer, who is the husband of former Ward 4 Council member Marie Carrubba.
And in Ward 5, Republican Dan Hickman is facing Democrat Hannah Jaroszynski. Current Ward 5 representative Bill Reynolds opted not to run for re-election.
There are four candidates running for the three At-Large seats. Incumbent Republicans Randy Daversa and Russ Bonfiglio are running for re-election as well as Republican Michael Zanghi. Democrats Jeremy Engquist and Dan Gonzalez are also running.
There is also one proposition located on the back of the ballot.
The proposition would amend the state constitution to “Allow Olympic Sports Complex In Essex County on State Forest Preserve Land.” A “Yes” vote would allow the state to acquire more protected land in the Adirondacks while authorizing the existing Olympic sports complex (after the fact) and regulating its development. A “No” vote would result in the existing Olympic sports complex remaining in violation of the state constitution, meaning the state can’t develop it further without another amendment.
Polls are open today from 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. in Chautauqua County.
Nearly five percent of registered voters participated in early voting in Chautauqua County. Chautauqua County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Nacole Ellis said 3,939 people voted between October 25 and November 2. Broken down by party, 1,952 Democrats voted early compared with 1,199 Republicans. The number of early voters is up from the last time there was a City Council and County Legislature election in 2023 when 3,588 people voted.
Ellis said there are roughly 80,033 registered voters in the County.
Bilingual Ballots Voters outside the Cities of Dunkirk and Jamestown will notice all ballots are now bilingual, featuring both English and Spanish on each ballot due to new Election Law changes. Votes in the two Cities have had Bilingual ballots since 2024 and were previously offered separately, in English and Spanish.
If a voter registered previously anywhere in New York State and is in current active or inactive voter registration status anywhere in New York State and failed to notify the Board of Elections, the voter may go to his or her new polling place on Election Day, fill out a provisional affidavit ballot and once the voter is proven to be eligible, that ballot will be counted following the Election.
For all of WRFA’s Election coverage, visit wrfalp.com/election-2025
For voting information, including sample ballots and voting locations, visit VoteChautauqua.com
We’ll have Election Night coverage starting at 8:00 p.m. tonight on 107.9 WRFA-LP.
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