JAMESTOWN – It’s Primary Day across New York State and thousands of eligible voters in Chautauqua County will be heading to the polls Tuesday with several key races scheduled to take place both in Jamestown and in other communities across the region as well.
George Borrello (left) and Curt Crandall
The Chautauqua County Board of Elections says a total of 25,500 Republican voters are eligible to vote in today’s Primary for the 57th NYS Senate District – with candidates George Borrello, the current Chautauqua County executive, and Curt Crandall, the chair of the Allegany County Legislature, squaring off.
The Senate district includes Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and part of Livingston Counties. There are 64,000 active Republican voters eligible to vote across the district.
Borrello was elected Chautauqua County executive in 2017 after spending eight years in the Chautauqua County Legislature, representing his home area of Hanover. Crandall is a long-time member member of the Allegany County Legislature and has served as its chair for the past 14 years.
Sen. Cathy Young was reelected to office in November 2018, but when she announced she was resigning from her seat in late February of this year, it meant that a special election would have to take place to fill that seat. As a result, the Republican party chairs for each of the four counties that comprise the 57th district (Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Livingston) met in early March to select their candidate and it was Borrello, with only the Republican Party chair from Allegany County selecting Crandall.
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not set a special election date to fill the vacated seat, the special election date was set for this coming November’s general election. That gave Crandall an opportunity to challenge Borrello’s endorsement and force a primary.
Borrello is also the endorsed candidate for the Conservative Party.
Andrew Liuzzo (left) and David Wilfong
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR JAMESTOWN MAYOR
An estimated 3800 Republicans will be choosing their candidate for mayor to appear on the ballot for the November general election.
The two candidates who will appear on today’s republican party ballot are City Councilman at Large Andrew Liuzzo and Chautauqua County Legislator David Wilfong. Liuzzo was first elected to the Jamestown City Council in the 2017 election, while Wilfong was first elected to the County Legislature in 2013. He’s also the current chair of the Chautauqua County Republican Committee.
In February, Wilfong became the endorsed candidate of the Jamestown Republican Committee. But Liuzzo was able to force a primary by collecting an overwhelming number of petition signatures from registered Republicans living within the city.
Wilfong is also the endorsed candidate for the Conservative Party.
Tony Dolce and Raven Mason Thompson
CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL – WARD 2
There’s also a Republican primary for Jamestown City Council Ward 2 – with incumbent Tony Dolce being challenged by newcomer Raven Mason Thompson.
Dolce is the city Republican committee’s endorsed candidate, having served on the city council since 1999. This is Mason Thompson’s first attempt at running for public office.
OTHER LOCAL PRIMARIES
Other local primaries for the Republican Party include Carroll Town Supervisor and Town Clerk, Charlotte Town Council (Vote for 2), and Kiantone Town Supervisor. Also, Republicans have County Legislature primaries in Legislative District 1 in Dunkirk and Legislative District 18, covering the Mayville area, along with the towns of Mina and Findley Lake.
There are no primaries scheduled for the Democrats in Chautauqua County. However, a few third party primaries will be taking place in other areas of the county outside of Jamestown.
Polls are open Noon to 9 p.m.
Election officials say the busiest times to avoid will be Noon to 1 p.m. and in the evening during the dinner hour. All county poll sites will be open.
Results for all races will be posted online tonight at the website VoteChautauqua.com for local races and at Elections.NY.gov for 57th Senate district-wide results.
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