MAYVILLE – The effort to find candidates to run for local offices in Chautauqua County for the November 2015 is underway.
Chautauqua County Democratic Elections Commissioner Norman Green – who also serves as chairman of the Chautauqua County Democratic Committee – says petitions are now circulating for anyone wishing to have their name on the ballot for the 2015 general election, with a deadline of July 6. That means anyone who wants to run for a local office, but hasn’t started the process yet, will want to begin soon.
“Fist off I always recommend that whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or even an Independent, that you reach out to a political party,” Green explains. “If you’re looking at challenging the incumbent who is in office right now, you’re probably better off reaching out to the party that is not in power at that moment. These people who are involved with their respective parties will help you through the process.”
COUNTY LEGISLATURE RACES HIGHLIGHT 2015 ELECTION
This year’s election is a local election, with no county-wide offices appearing on the ballot. But registered voters will still have the opportunity to vote on several offices, including county legislature (view complete list of current legislature members).
Chautauqua County Democratic Election Commissioner and County Democratic Committee Chairman Norman Green.
Currently, 14 of the 19 county legislator seats are controlled by republicans, with only five seats held by democrats. Green says that the Democratic Committee has been working on identifying candidates to run, in order to get back some of the seats that were lost in the 2013 election, but knows that’s not going to be easy.
“It’s a tough situation (for the Democratic party). The situation right now is that we have a Republican county executive who is popular. We also have Republican-controlled county legislature that seems to be getting along with each other and they seem to be agreeing on most of the issues. So its a tough situation,” Green says, adding, “But as is the case with any political office, issues are not the only thing that get people elected.”
Green says that in addition to running on a platform devoted to various issues, it also helps to have a candidate who has name recognition and who’s well-liked within their community.
Currently, Green says that the Democratic Committee has several candidates selected for each of the four county legislative districts in Jamestown (Districts 9, 11, 12, 13), along with the districts in the north county areas of Dunkirk, Pomfret, and Portland (Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 7). Although he’s holding off on announcing who they are, saying that he’d prefer to have them formally announce their intentions to run.
However, Green also says that democrats are still having a difficult time finding candidates in the outlying areas of Jamestown – which cover the towns of Busti, Carroll, Ellicott, Gerry and Kiantone – along with others (Districts 10, 14, 15, 16).
“For the four seats that are solidly in the city of Jamestown, we have four outstanding candidates who we feel will do quit well and will have a good chance to win,” Green says. “But for the other areas of southern Chautauqua County, the success in finding candidates has been minimal, although the effort has been high. We certainly encourage people to run – we don’t care if their Republicans or with another party that’s not Democrat. We want to give voters a choice and we want to raise the flag for the democratic system.”
Green says anyone wishing to run for county legislature, or any other office – regardless of party – should call the county board of elections and learn more about what they need to do.
Chautauqua County Board of Elections
Hall R. Clothier Building
7 North Erie St.
Mayville, NY 14757
Ph: 716-753-4580
Fax: 716-753-4111
Email: vote@co.chautauqua.ny.us
Commissioner of Elections – Democratic
Norman P. Green
GreenN@co.chautauqua.ny.us
Ph: 716-753-4250
Commissioner of Elections – Republican
Brian C. Abram
AbramB@co.chautauqua.ny.us
Ph: 716-753-4226
Besides the county legislature, other offices up for election in 2015 include Jamestown Mayor and Jamestown City Council, and all offices in the towns of Ellicott, Busti, Carroll – along with nearly all others. Some villages – including Falconer and Celoron – will also have races in November.
For a complete list of offices that are up for election this year, visit VoteChautauqua.com.
You can also hear more from Norm Green Thursday on WRFA during our Community Matters program, which airs at 5 p.m. Norm will be our first guest, followed by Jeff Smith – executive director of the St. Susan Center.
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