George Borrello, Andy Goodell

Chautauqua County’s representatives in the State Legislature hope to continue to address inflation and public safety following their re-election.

State Senator George Borrello defeated Democrat Dan Brown in Tuesday’s elections. He said he’s grateful for the support in the new 57th District, which now includes parts of Genesee and Wyoming Counties.

Borrello said crime is still the number one issue to tackle when the new legislative session starts in January, “If we don’t feel safe and if people don’t feel safe in New York State then really nothing else matters. You’ve got to address the affordability issue here in New York State, once again. We continue to lead the nation in out-migration. And, ultimately, New Yorkers have to feel that their government is serving them and we need a transparent government.”

Assemblyman Andy Goodell won his race against Democrat Sandra Lewis. He said his focus in his campaign and for his next term is to address high inflation in New York, including high energy costs, “And so I’ll be urging my Assembly colleagues to make more affordable energy available by opening up environmentally responsible natural gas development in the Southern Tier, which would be a huge benefit not only to the Southern Tier but to everyone that uses natural gas. I’ll also urge them to look at expanding our electrical capacity, especially as the state is looking to electrify more buildings and vehicles.”

Goodell said he has also worked with Senator Borrello to introduce legislation to restore judicial discretion when it comes to setting bail. He said he hopes to continue that work in regards to dealing with issues around bail reform in the new year.

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.

A 60-minute debate featuring the two candidates for the New York State Assembly’s 150th District: Andrew Goodell (R) and Sandra Lewis (D).

WATCH

The debate was held on Thursday, Oct. 13 at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts inside the 3rd Floor Multimedia Room. It was moderated by WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley and also involved questions from participating media members – Terry Frank (Media One Radio / WJTN) and Justin Gould (WNY News Now), along with Ciesla-Hanley. There was also an opportunity for each candidate to ask one question to each of their two respective opponents.

Funding for the debate was made possible through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

JAMESTOWN, NY – On Thursday, October 13, WRFA-LP – in conjunction with other participating media members – will present a 60-minute debate featuring the two candidates for the New York State Assembly’s 150th District: Andrew Goodell (R) and Sandra Lewis (D). The district, which was redrawn earlier this year, now encompasses all of Chautauqua County, the Cattaraugus Reservation in both Chautauqua and Erie Counties, and the Town of Collins in Erie County.

Sandra Lewis

The Democratic candidate for the 150th New York State Assembly race is running to “bring new perspective.”

Sandra Lewis, who is facing Republican Incumbent Andy Goodell, said she wants to bring new experience to the job, “And I think it will help having a person on the Democratic ticket who can work with the majority leadership. And I want to promote economic development in our county, affordable housing, and to strengthen mental health services for the betterment of all the people.”

Lewis says affordable housing is something our area struggles with, “I would support legislation to have lower interest rates for buying a home. I would support a program to have rent-to-own. And I’ve heard about low-income housing tax credits where people can get tax credits to build low-income house and good housing.”

Lewis is retired from SUNY Fredonia, after working there for over 30 years. She has been active in the community including serving recently on the County’s Redistricting Committee and on the United Way’s Chautauqua County I.D.E.A. (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) coalition.

Lewis and Goodell will appear in a debate against each other on WRFA at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, October 13. The event will be aired live on 107.9 FM as well as livestreamed online via wrfalp.com, and on our Facebook and YouTube pages.

We meet the Democratic candidate for the 150th New York State Assembly Seat, Sandra Lewis, who is facing Incumbent Republican Andy Goodell in the November General Election.

Sandra Lewis

The rally is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, saying there is not a federal constitutional right to an abortion.

The rally is in support of the right to abortion and to support the stance that abortion is healthcare.

At noon, a march is scheduled to take place from Dow Park on West Sixth Street to Tracy Plaza on East Third Street.

Speakers at Tracy Plaza will include motivational speaker Katie Castro, local poet Autumn Echo, local dance artist Sukanya Burman, and local female political candidates and professionals Sandra Lewis and Alyssa Porter.

The rally will conclude with a march that returns to Dow Park.