Election Day 2015 is Tuesday

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY – Tuesday is Election Day and there are several contested races in the greater Jamestown area and across Chautauqua County. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 9 p.m. Registered voters looking for specific information about their voting district can go online to www.votechautauqua.com . The website will also have live election night results starting shortly after 9 p.m. tonight.

CITY SEES LIMITED NUMBER OF CONTESTED RACES

In Jamestown, only four of the nine city council seats are contested and none of them involve at-large, or city-wide, seats. Contested races for 2015 are as follows (*notes incumbent):

• Ward 1 – Brent Sheldon* (R) vs Tyler Case (D)
• Ward 2 – Anthony “Tony” Dolce* (R) vs Joseph “Joe” Scapelitte (D)
• Ward 3 – Alfonso Pagan* (R) vs Victoria “Vickie” James (D)
• Ward 4 – Marie Carrubba* (D) vs Richard “Rick” Elardo (R,C)

There will also be two names appearing on the Ward 5 ballot, however, only incumbent Maria Jones (D) is actively running for that seat. The challenger, Republican Stephen Gordon, has reportedly moved out of the ward but it was too late to have his name removed from the ballot.

Also for Ward 6, incumbent Tom Nelson (D) is running unopposed.

There are three at large council seats up for election, but only the three incumbents are running. They are Kim Ecklund* (R,C,I,Ref); George Spitale* (D,WF,I); and Council President Gregory Rabb.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi (D) is also running for a fifth consecutive term in office. He is running unopposed for the second consecutive time.

COUNTY LEGISLATURE SEES EIGHT CONTESTED RACES

It’s unlikely the heavily favored Republican Chautauqua County Legislature will see a change in majority following Tuesday’s elections.  Just eight of the 19 seats are contested and of the 11 non-contested races, eight are Republican-controlled seats. That means the GOP needs to win only two of the eight contested races to maintain a majority.

Most of the contested legislature races are in the North County, but three are also taking place in the south county, with two here in Jamestown.

• District 11 – David Wilfong* (Jamestown-R) vs Robert Whitney (Jamestown-D)
• District 12 – Elisabeth Rankin* (Jamestown-R) vs Beth Kresge (Jamestown-D)
• District 17 – Jay Gould* (Ashville-R) vs John Suroviec (Clymer-I)

In the north county, there are two open seat races:

• District 1 – Kevin Muldowney (Dunkirk-R) vs William Rivera (Dunkirk-D)
• District 7 – Mark O’Dell (Brocton-R) vs David Wilkinson (Cassadaga-D)

The three remaining contested races are:

• District 2 – Shaun Heenan* (Dunkirk-R) vs Robert Bankoski (Dunkirk-D)
• District 3 – Robert Scudder* (Fredonia-R) vs Wayne Dorler (Stockton-D)
• District 5 – Terry Niebel* (Dunkirk-R) vs Martin Anderson (Forestville-D)

There is one county wide race and that’s for Chautauqua County Judge, with District Attorney David Foley (R-Fredonia) the lone candidate who’s been cross-endorsed by both parties. He is running for the seat vacated by Judge John Ward, who retired from the bench this past summer.

OTHER CONTESTED RACES OF NOTE

BUSTI

• Busti Town Supervisor: Jesse Robbins (R); Lee Fischer (D)
• Busti Town Board: James Andrews, an incumbent endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties, Robert Schultz, endorsed by the Republican and Conservative parties, and Rudy Mueller, endorsed by the Democratic, Working Families, Independence and Women’s Equality parties.
• Busti Town Justice: Gary Segrue (D); William Geary (R)

ELLICOTT

• Ellicott Town Council: Ward 1 – Patrick Tyler vs Thomas Campbell

LAKEWOOD

• Lakewood Mayor: David Wordelmann* (R) vs Cara Birrittieri (D,WF,WE)
• Lakewood Village Trustee: John Jablonski III, an incumbent endorsed by the Democratic and Working Families parties; Ellen Barnes, an incumbent endorsed by the Republican Party; and Randall Holcomb endorsed by the Republican Party.

SUPREME COURT ELECTION IS UNCONTESTED

There is also two seats up for election for New York Supreme Court Justice – although there are only two candidates on the ballot. They are Frank Sedita III and Emilio Colaiacova.

As a result of no county-wide contested races combined with no contested local races, several voting districts in the county will be absent of any contested races. They include the towns of Carroll, Charlotte, Cherry Creek, Ellery, Gerry, Kiantone, Mina, North Harmony, and Poland. Voters in Wards 2, 3, 4, in the town of Ellicott and Ward 6 in the city of Jamestown also won’t have any options on the ballot.