NY Governor Kathy Hochul celebrates being elected the state’s first woman governor

Democrat Kathy Hochul has been elected the first woman governor of New York State.

Hochul defeated Republican Lee Zeldin with 52% of the vote.

It was a sweep for the Democrats in statewide elections in New York.

Incumbent Democrat State Attorney General Letitia James has been declared the winner against Republican Michael Henry. Incumbent Democrat Comptroller Tom DiNapoli also won re-election over Republican Paul Rodriguez.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer was re-elected to a fifth term over Republican Joe Pinion.

In the race for the new 23rd Congressional District, Republican Nick Langworthy declared victory over Democrat Max Della Pia.

In State Legislative races, Republican State Senator George Borrello has defeated Democrat Dan Brown and Republican Assemblyman Andy Goodell won re-election against Democrat Sandra Lewis.

In the special election for Chautauqua County Legislative District 13, incumbent Republican John Penhollow won with 1,600 votes over Democrat Barbara Colt who received 600 votes.

For the special election in the City of Jamestown for the Ward 5 Council Seat, Republican incumbant Bill Reynolds received 751 votes over Democrat Doug Lawson‘s 486 votes.

For the five 8th Judicial State Supreme Court Justice seats open, Craig Hannah, Tracey Bannister, Kelly Vacco, Gerald Greenan III, and Joseph Lorigo were elected. Shannon Heneghan lost that race.

The State proposition to authorize New York State to borrow $4.2 billion for the Clean Water, Clean Air, and Clean Jobs Environmental Bond Act was approved by voters. The monies will go toward funding environmental protection, natural restoration, resilience, and clean energy projects.

Governor Kathy Hochul is attempting to secure a full four-year term on the Democratic and Working Families line against Republican and Conservative endorsed candidate Lee Zeldin. Zeldin currently is the 1st Congressional District Representative. Hochul took over as Governor following Andrew Cuomo‘s resignation in August 2021. For the Lieutenant Governor’s race, Antonio Delgado is running with Hochul and Alison Esposito is running with Zeldin

Voters from Chautauqua County across to Stueben County and now part of Erie County will vote on a new representative for the new 23rd Congressional District. Republican Nick Langworthy is facing Democrat Max Della Pia for that seat. The pre-2020 census district was formerly led by Tom Reed for the last 10 years and is currently represented by Joe Sempolinski.

Longtime incumbent and Democrat Chuck Schumer is running for re-election against Republican Joe Pinion and LaRouche party candidate Diane Sare.

Two other statewide offices on the ballot include incumbent State Attorney General Letitia James on the Democratic and Working Families line facing Michael Henry on the Republican and Conservative lines.

And incumbent State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on the Democratic and Working Families lines is facing Paul Rodriguez on the Republican and Conservative lines.

In State Legislative races, incumbent State Senator George Borrello is running on the Republican and Conservative lines for the 57th District against Dan Brown on the Democratic line. Incumbent Assemblyman Andy Goodell is also running on the Republican and Conservatives lines against Democrat Sandra Lewis.

In Chautauqua County races, the County Sheriff race is unopposed with incumbent Jim Quattrone running on the Republican and Conservative lines.

There are two special elections for the Chautauqua County Legislature.

In District 7, incumbent John Penhollow is running on the Republican and Conservative lines against Barbara Colt who is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines. Penhollow was appointed to fill the seat after Mark Odell resigned in July 2021.

In District 10, Republican incumbent Jaime Gustafson is running unopposed. She was appointed to fill the seat after Ken Lawton resigned due to moving out of the district. District 10 represents the southwest side of Jamestown, the Village of Lakewood and part of the Town of Busti.

In the City of Jamestown, a special election for the Ward 5 City Council seat is being held between incumbant Bill Reynolds on the Republican and Conservative lines and Democrat Doug Lawson. The winner of that race will fill out the remainder of that seat’s term following Grant Olson declining to take the seat after the 2021 election.

There are five seats open for the 8th Judicial State Supreme Court Justices. Running on all four lines of Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Working Families is Craig Hannah. Kelly Vacco and Gerald Greenan III are running on the Democratic, Republican, and Conservatives lines. Shannon Heneghan is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines. And Joseph Lorigo is running on the Republican and Conservatives lines.

There is one proposition located on the back of the ballot.

The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Clean Jobs Environmental Bond Act would, if approved, authorize New York State to borrow $4.2 billion to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resilience, and clean energy projects.

The State Legislature has already approved the plan, which allows the state to sell the bonds immediately after approval. But in order to sell the bonds, the state has to get approval from voters.

Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. in Chautauqua County.

For all of WRFA’s Election coverage, visit https://www.wrfalp.com/election-2022/

For voting information, including sample ballots and voting locations, visit VoteChautauqua.com

We’ll have Election Night coverage starting at 8pm tonight on 107.9 WRFA-LP.

Chautauqua County Legislature

While a motion in support of best practices to overcome COVID-19 failed to receive enough signatures to come to the floor, it garnered an hour’s worth of public comment at Wednesday’s Chautauqua County Legislature meeting.

The motion proposed by Fredonia Democrat Susan Parker included language supporting the County Health Department in their efforts to get residents vaccinated and encouraging residents to wear masks. It needed 10 signatures to come to the floor to be voted on and only received four.

Of those who spoke at the first privilege of the floor, ten residents spoke in favor of the motion while eight spoke against it.

Barbara Colt, speaking on behalf of the Chautauqua Cattaraugus Women and Men’s Action Group (CCWAG), said they support the County Department of Health and State Department of Health, “Our Department of Health and Human Services has fought relentlessly for more than two years to reduce the overwhelming effects of COVID. A disease that continues to damage, debilitate, and extinguish the lives of our county residents. CCWAG requests that the County Legislature supports these public health measures and policies.”

Seth Viticus of Jamestown encouraged the Legislature to withdraw the motion, saying it offered nothing new in combating COVID-19, “I propose to talk with County Health Department to instead encourage more healthy lifestyle choices, so when people do get the COVID virus their body is better suited to fight it. I’m not here to debate the vaccine or the masks, but if we’re going to waste resources and manpower, then let’s use it for something more productive.”

Legislator Terry Niebel said he while he supported parts of the measure, there were other items that led to him not signing the motion, “Where it talks about residents age five and older, we’re encouraging those people to be vaccinated – our residents five and older are children. That should be a decision between the children, their parents, and their doctors.”

Legislator Parker commented at the second privilege of the floor, saying the motion was presented for a simple reason, “That the Chautauqua County Legislature endorses and supports our County Health Department’s every day efforts for over two years and continuing to protect Chautauqua County residents from the most deadly and debilitating pandemic in more than a century.”

Parker said Legislators missed an opportunity to endorse the legitimacy of the Health Department’s work in the community, “We missed an opportunity to show support for our medical community bearing the brunt of treating the sick and dying residents. We missed an opportunity to show support for our schools, businesses, and organizations that are all working to stay open and continue serving our community.”

The County Legislature approved a number of resolutions including the approval for the Public Defender’s office to lease 4,147 square feet of space on the third floor of the Jamestown Municipal Building. The five year lease starts at $4,479 this year and increases each year to $5,374 in 2026. Public Defender Ned Barone expressed his thanks to the Legislature for their support.