Chautauqua County Legislature seats are on the November General Election ballot again under New York State’s new even year election law.
The U.S. Supreme Court, last month, declined to hear a case on the state law that pushed local elections to the same year as federal races. However, there is still a court case pending in federal court to kill the law and keep the elections separate.
Governor Kathy Hochul and Democrats have argued that holding elections in the same year would boost voter turnout and cut the costs of holding annual elections. Former Chautauqua County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Brian Abram said in 2023, when the law was introduced, that it’s unlikely that there will be any cost savings due to there still being county-wide elections in odd-numbered years and those elections come with fixed costs.
The law does 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, district attorneys, local judges and others.
The Chautauqua County Board of Elections’ website at votechautauqua.com provides information about who has filed petitions to run in the November 3 elections.
In the race for Family Court Judge, incumbent Michael Sullivan has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines with Alexandria Moss filing on the Democrat and Working Families lines.
Republican incumbent County Sheriff Jim Quattrone is the only candidate at this time for the seat of Sheriff, filing on the Republican and Conservative lines.
Six of 19 seats on the Chautauqua County Legislature have candidates filing for petitions with no opponent. That includes District 2 Democrat Bob Bankoski, District 4 Democrat Sandra Lewis, District 5 Republican Jason Merritt, District 8 Republican Pierre Chagnon, District 14 Republican Dan Pavlock, and District 17 Republican Travis Heiser.
Other County Legislature filings are as follows:
In District 1, incumbent Democrat Marcus Buchanan has filed on the Democrat and Working Families lines. Colby Garza has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines.
In District 3, incumbent Republican Bob Scudder has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines with Michael Lee filing on the Democratic line.
In District 6, incumbent Republican Tom Harmon has filed petitions for the Republican and Conservative lines to run in that district. Kevin O’Connell has filed to run on the Democrat and Working Families line.
In District 7, incumbent Republican John Penhollow has filed to run on the Republican and Conservative lines. Carla Rodriguez has filed to run on the Democrat and Working Families lines.
In Jamestown District 9, Democratic incumbent Vince DeJoy has filed to run on the Democrats line. John Vogan has filed to run on the Republican and Conservatives lines.
In Jamestown-Ellicott District 10, Republican incumbent Jamie Gustafson has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines. Julie Jackson-Forsberg has filed on the Democrat and Working Families lines.
In Jamestown District 11, Democratic incumbent Bob Whitney has filed on the Democrats line. Jeremy Maggio has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines.
In Jamestown District 12, Democratic incumbent Fred Larson has filed to run on the Democrat and Working Families lines. Brent Sheldon has filed to run on the Republican and Conservative lines. Sheldon currently serves as the Ward 1 Council member on the Jamestown City Council.
In Jamestown District 13, Democratic incumbent Tom Nelson has filed on the Democrat and Working Families lines. Andrew Faulkner has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines. Faulkner serves as Ward 6 Council member on the Jamestown City Council
In District 15, Republican incumbent Lisa Vanstrom has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines. Nikki Pierce has filed to run on the Democrat line.
In District 16, Republican incumbent Dalton Anthony has filed to run on the Republican and Conservative lines. Christopher DeBlass has filed to run on the Democrat and Working Families lines.
In District 18, Republican incumbent Marty Proctor has filed to run on the Republican and Conservative lines. Dan Morton has filed to run on the Democratic line.
In District 19, incumbent Fred Johnson has filed on the Republican and Conservative lines with John Hamels filing on the Democrat and Working Families lines.
April 14 is the last day to fill a vacancy after a candidate has declined to run with April 20 being the last day to authorize a substitution after a candidate declines to run.
Thursday, April 9 is the deadline to turn in petitions for candidates running on an independent, or third party, line.
You can see the full list of candidates who have submitted petitions to run for office in the November elections at https://petitions.chqvotes.com/
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