Several Republican candidate were in Lakewood Tuesday to open the party’s official 2016 election headquarters for Southern Chautauqua County. (Photo courtesy of Tom Reed for Congress)

LAKEWOOD – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) was one of several Republicans who showed up in Lakewood Tuesday night to help open the 2016 Election Headquarters for local GOP candidates. Reed was on hand to thank supporters in the area and acknowledge the fact that the county has the highest number of residents compared to any of the other ten counties in the 23rd district.

Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) talks with a constituent during the opening of the Chautauqua County Republican Party’s 2016 Election Headquarters in Lakewood, NY.

“Chautauqua County is home to more than 130,000 people. I am proud to bring their voices to Washington because I truly care about these families,” said Reed. “We need to fight for fair policies to bring more jobs home to Western New York–I’m dedicated to you and your family.”

Besides Reed, other Republicans running for office in 2016 include incumbent State Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean, 57th District), and incumbent State Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Chautauqua, 150th District).

There will also be two special elections for two county-wide offices. Republican Mike Sullivan (Fredonia) is running for the Chautauqua County Family Court Judge seat that opened with the retirement of Judge Judith Claire. And Republican attorney Jason Schmidt (Fredonia) is running for District Attorney in a seat that was vacated when former DA David Foley left his post to become Chautauqua County Court Judge.

Chautauqua County Republican Committee Chairman Al Hendrickson says that he thinks the GOP will carry a very strong ticket in the 2016 Election.

“We couldn’t have a better team with Congressman Reed, Senator Young, Assemblyman Goodell, and County Executive Vince Horrigan – who’s obviously not running but he’s part of the team,” Hendrickson said. “As far as the location of the headquarters goes, it’s a great location. Convenient parking for anyone who wants to stop by. I’m happy with it.”

In addition, there is also a state-wide office up for election, with Republican Wendy Long (New York City) challenging U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York City) in his reelection bid for a fourth consecutive term in the upper chamber.

Several other town and village races are set to take place across the county, with a complete list of offices available at the Chautauqua County Board of Elections website.

Campaign sings for all candidates can be picked up at the GOP headquarters, which is located at 119 Chautauqua Ave. in Lakewood, N.Y.

Meanwhile the Democratic Party in Chautauqua County has yet to open a campaign headquarters in Southern Chautauqua County. However, Democratic candidate John Plumb, who’s challenging Tom Reed for the 23rd Congressional District, does have his campaign headquarters in Jamestown, where he was born and not far from his hometown of Randolph, NY.

His campaign spokesman says that anyone wishing for a campaign sign or to assist with the campaign can do so by visiting JohnPlumbforCongress.com, or follow the campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

Donald Trump

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY – Donald Trump has garnered more support from Republican leaders in Chautauqua County, compared to the other two Republican candidates still involved in the race.

Last month Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY-23) came out in support of trump. In addition, County Republican Committee chairman Allan Hendrickson and former county executive (and 2010 candidate for Lt. Governor) Gregory Edwards have also come out in support of Trump, who has far and away the largest number of political endorsements in New York State.

However, not all local Republican leaders are throwing their support behind Trump. Current County Executive Vince Horrigan (R-Bemus Point) tells WRFA he does not intend to endorse any specific candidate for President of the United States. In an emailed statement, Horrigan said, “The right to vote is a precious gift given to us by our Constitution and those who have fought and died in defense of our freedom. I strongly encourage every resident of Chautauqua County to carefully consider their choice for Commander in Chief and then exercise that choice at the voting booth.”

The only notable endorsement for another GOP candidate besides Trump is former U.S. Senator Alphonse D’Amato and former Congressman Amo Houghton, who both endorse John Kasich.

The NY Presidential Primary is Tuesday, April 19.

Hendrickson said the party will be throwing its support behind Vince Horrigan (Bemus Point) in his bid for County Executive. In addition, the party is also supporting Larry Barmore (Gerry) for the office of County Clerk. Both Barmore and Horrigan are currently serving on the county legislature. The party is also endorsing David Foley (Fredonia) in his reelection bid for District Attorney.

Due to a public vote in 2011, the county legislature has been reduced from 25 to 19 members and of the republicans have candidates for 14 of the 19 districts. In fact, two of the districts will feature a Republican Party Primary.

In District 16 (Towns of Kiantone, Carroll and Poland), former county legislator Ron Lemon (Frewsburg) and former legislator Tami Downey (Kiantone) will be running for the party’s endorsement. Lemon had previously served on the legislature until stepping down from the office in 2010 to become the county legislature clerk. At that time Downey was then selected to serve his unfinished term. She lost the election in 2011 to Tom Erlandson (D-Frewsbug).

There will also be a GOP primary in District 18 (Towns of Mina, Sherman and most of Chautauqua) featuring two incumbents. Because of redistricting, both Republican Fred Crosscut (Sherman) and Republican David Himelein (Findley Lake) are now in the same district.

Others who have received the party’s endorsement for county legislature include Pierre Cagnon in District 8 (Towns of Ellery and North Harmony); David Wilfong in District 11 (Jamestown); William Prieto in District 12 (Jamestown); and Lisa Vanstrom for District 15 (Town of Ellicott south of I—86).

Republican incumbents who’ve announced they’ll be seeking reelection include Bob Scudder in District 3 (Town of Pomfret), Bob Stewart in District 5 (Towns of Sheridan, Arkwright, Villenova, Cherry Creek), George Borello in District 6 (Towns of Hanover), John Runkle in District 7 (Towns of Portland and Stockton), PJ Wendel in District 10 (Town of Busti, Jamestown), Mark Tarbrake in District 14 (Towns of Charlotte, Ellington, Gerry and Ellicott north of I-86), Jay Gould in District 17 (Towns of French Creek, Clymer, Harmony and Busti) and John Hemmer in District 19 (Town of Westfield and Ripley).

The County Democrat Party Nominating Committee will be finalizing its slate of endorsements this coming weekend.

A complete list of all candidates for the 2013 election can be found on our blog site, www.wrfalp.wordpress.com.

Sopak, only the third woman to hold the office of county clerk since 1811, began her first term of office as Chautauqua County Clerk in 1994. Since then, she helped to bring the clerk’s office into the 21^st century, by updating the office and making the transition to a more computer-based and electronic system of record keeping.

Sopak’s efforts have been recognized across the state, and the country. In 1999, Congressman Amo Hougton recognized Sopak on the floor of Congress for the Award of Merit, presented by the National Genealogical Society, noting Sopak was the first county clerk ever to receive this award.

There has been no official announcement by either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party regarding who will be running for the open seat. GOP Committee Chairman Allan Hendrickson told WRFA earlier this month they have a candidate in mind, but he had no plans of announcing who it would be until Sopak made her retirement official.

For the democrats, county legislator Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but she also would not say if the county clerk’s position was something she planned on running for when WRFA spoke with her last week. Cornell recently held a fundraiser for her campaign, but would not say if she was going to use the money to run for reelection as a county legislator or if it would be used for seeking a higher office.

In a recent interview with WRFA, Horrigan said that while campaigning, he will focus on three different initiatives.

“One is to implement lean government. And what I mean by this, in my past experience, it’s not only what we do but how we do it,” Horrigan said, adding that if elected he will continue to look for cost-saving measures in all areas of county government. “The second point is to expand opportunities for our citizens by ensuring they are receiving proper job training and skill development… and the third thing is to develop private sector growth.”

Horrigan also says that while he is the first Republican to announce he’ll be running for office, he understands that another party member may come forward to seek the party’s endorsements. He says that’s simply part of the political process and will let it takes its course if that happens.

Last week, Chautauqua County Republican Committee chairman Allan Hendrickson came out and unofficially endorsed Horrigan for county executive. Any official endorsement from the party will take place following a meeting at the start of June.

As WRFA first reported on Thursday, County Legislator Vince Horrigan of Bemus Point announced on Wednesday evening that he would be running for county executive on the Republican Ticket.

County republican committee chairman Allan Hendrickson says that Horrigan was one of the three individuals his party reached out to when learning that the current county executive, Republican Greg Edwards, would not be running for a third term. Now that Horrigan has made it official that he will be running, Hendrickson said the party is throwing its support behind the retired Air Force colonel and former executive director of the Red Cross of Southwestern New York.

Hendrickson adds that the party will not be officially endorsing Horrigan until after May 30 when the committee officially votes on its endorsements. However, he adds that since Horrigan made his announcements, the other two unnamed candidates have removed themselves from consideration and the party is seeking no other candidates at this point.

As for the county democrats, they are expected to announce their candidate for county executive later this month.

Last week, current County Executive Greg Edwards made the surprising announcement that he would not be seeking a third term in office. That news came as a surprise to many individuals, including Republican Party Chairman Allan Hendrickson – who told WRFA during a phone conversation yesterday that the party would have liked to have more advanced notice from Edwards that he wasn’t going to run, so party officials could do a thorough job of courting a replacement. 

But despite only getting recent notification, Hendrickson says he’s still confident his party will find the right person to run for the county’s top elected position. He says party officials have approached three individuals and will work toward selecting one candidate from those three during this month. Hendrickson would not release the names of the individuals, but did say all three have previously held public office.

He adds that while no one else is currently being considered, the Republican Party is willing to hear from other residents who may want to throw his or her hat into the ring. Hendrickson also said that the party should be announcing its candidate by the start of June.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have announced their candidate for county executive. The Democrats were going to announce their candidate today, but party chairman Norman Green said earlier this week officials have decided to wait two more weeks, given Edwards’ announcement that he wont be running for reelection this year.