The slate of candidates for the November General Election is becoming clearer.
The Chautauqua County Board of Elections‘ website at votechautauqua.com provides information about who has filed petitions to run in the November 4 elections.
County Executive PJ Wendel has filed petitions to run on Republican and Conservative lines in his bid to be elected to a second full term. Current District 4 County Legislator Thomas Carle has filed to run on the Democrat and Working Families lines. Carle was defeated in his bid against Congressman Nick Langworthy in November 2024. He was appointed in December to fill the Legislative seat held by Susan Parker.
There are two candidates with the same first name running for County Clerk. Republican Gregory Carlson has filed to run on the Republican and Conservative lines. Democrat Gregory Krauza has filed to run on the Democrat and Working Families lines. Current County Clerk, Republican Larry Barmore announced last year that he would not be running for re-election.
County Court Judge David Foley is running for re-election on the Republican and Conservative lines. At this point, he will be running unopposed as no other candidates have submitted petitions.
In Jamestown City Council filings:
Candidates who have submitted petitions to run for the three At-Large seats include Republican incumbents Randy Daversa, Russ Bonfiglio, and newcomer Michael Zanghi. Democrats who submitted petitions to run At Large include Jeremy Engquist and Dan Gonzalez. Current Republican incumbent Jeff Russell is running for County Legislature and cannot also run to retain his City Council seat.
In Ward 3, Democratic incumbent Regina Brackman is facing Republican Seth States.
In Ward 4, Republican incumbent Joe Paterniti will face Democrat Doug Scotchmer, who is the husband of former Ward 4 Council member Marie Carrubba.
In Ward 5, current Council member Bill Reynolds is not running again. Republican Dan Hickman will face Democrat Hannah Jaroszynski.
Republican incumbents Brent Sheldon, Tony Dolce, and Andrew Faulkner have no opponents at this time.
In County Legislature filings:
Democrat Robert Dando Jr. has filed to run against incumbent Republican Bob Scudder in District 3.
In District 4, Democrat Sandra Lewis is the only candidate to submit petitions. That seat is currently held by Thomas Carle.
In District 5, longtime Legislator Terry Niebel is not seeking another term. Only Republican Jason Merritt has filed petitions for the Republican and Conservative lines to run in that district.
In Jamestown District 9, Republican incumbent Phil Landy will face Democrat Vince DeJoy. DeJoy is the former Director of Development for the City of Jamestown and is the current Director of Development for the City of Dunkirk.
In Jamestown-Ellicott District 10, Republican incumbent Jamie Gustafson will face Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg.
In Jamestown District 11, Republican incumbent Tamara Dickey will face Democrat Bob Whitney. Dickey was appointed to her seat in September following the resignation of Dave Wilfong.
In Jamestown District 12, Democratic incumbent Fred Larson will face Republican Jeff Russell. Russell currently serves as a Council member at large on the Jamestown City Council.
In Jamestown District 13, Democratic incumbent Tom Nelson will face Republican Joseph Tickle. Nelson was appointed in January 2023 to fill the term of Paul Whitford.
In District 17, Republican Travis Heiser will face Democrat Melissa First. Heiser was appointed in January 2023 to fill the term of Jay Gould.
April 11 is the last day to fill a vacancy after a candidate has declined to run with April 15 being the last day to authorize a substitution after a candidate declines to run.
April 15 is also the first day for folks seeking signatures for independent, or third party, petitions.
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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