Gerrit Cain
KENNEDY – The Chautauqua County legislative district that includes the town of Carroll, Kiantone and Poland will have a contested race in November.
Libertarian Candidate Gerrit Cain (L-Poland) has announced his intention to challenge incumbent legislator John Davis (R-Frewsburg) in his bid for District 16 of the Chautauqua County Legislature. The announcement by Cain came after he was unanimously approved as a candidate by the Chautauqua County Libertarian Party, where he serves as secretary.
Cain is a Randolph, NY native and attended Jamestown Community College, graduating from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2004. He currently works as a quality technician for a beverage manufacturing facility in Chautauqua County.
“My campaign will focus on reducing the size and cost of government and increasing the ability of individuals and businesses to grow and innovate,” Cain said in a media release. “Despite the burden of State regulations and mandates, I believe the county can do more to hold the line and even reduce taxes by finding new ways to fund and facilitate projects in the county. I believe there is still a good chunk of
unnecessary spending we can eliminate from the county budget.”
Cain also said he would like to see the legislature work with local municipalities to making zoning and permitting laws more uniform form town to town to favor “entrepreneurship, business growth, and personal freedom.”
“This race is bigger than a single county district. It has potential to be an historic starting point for a much need shift in the political landscape at all levels of government from a broken two-party system to one where there is a viable third party with fresh innovative ideas,” Cain said.
Cain is the first libertarian candidate to come forward in the 2019 local elections in Chautauqua County. He will appear on the ballot after the Libertarian Party secured statewide ballot access following the 2018 elections and the strong showing by gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe – who received almost 80,000 votes state wide.
There was no candidate selected by Democrats to run in District 16, making it a two-way race between Davis and Cain. In addition to the Republican Party, Davis has also been endorsed by the Conservative and Independence Parties.
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