OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon Rebecca Luba is running unopposed for Chautauqua Town Clerk. Of the 18 towns that have races for town clerk, 15 of them are running unopposed.

While the two cities in Chautauqua County have plenty of candidates for the November elections, the same can’t be said for the local towns and villages.

Of the 27 towns in Chautauqua County, 17 don’t have a single contested race.

Three towns – Mina, Pomfret and Portland – do not have a supervisor up for election. Of the remaining 24 towns, only four have contested supervisor races. Those towns are Arkwright, Ellicott, Ellington, and Ripley. Two of the races, Arkwright and Ellington, feature an incumbent Democrat being challenged by a Republican. One of the races, Ellicott, features an incumbent Republican being challenged by a Democrat. Ripley has an open seat for supervisor. Longtime Supervisor Doug Bowen is not running. He is a registered Democrat.

There will also be three new elected supervisors in the towns of Charlotte, Dunkirk and Sheridan, because in each of those towns, their respective supervisor passed away in 2023, creating a vacancy. In Charlotte, Francis Lauricella is running unopposed following the accidental death of Allen Chase. In the town of Dunkirk Priscilla Penfold is running unopposed, following the death of Richard Purol. In the town of Sheridan, Thomas Wik is running unopposed, following the death of John Walker II.

For town councils, Dunkirk, Ellery, Ellicott, Ellington, Hanover, Ripley, Sheridan, and Westfield all have contested races. The remaining 19 towns do not have any contested council races.

For clerk, of the 18 towns that have races, only Ellicott, Hanover, and Ripley are contested. In Ellicott, incumbent Clerk Amy Bellardo, a Republican, is being challenged by Adrienne Swanson on the Democratic line. The other two towns, Hanover and Ripley have open seats, with their respective clerks not seeking re-election.

For highway superintendent, of the 17 towns that have races, only North Harmony and Ripley are contested. North Harmony has incumbent Benny Karlson, who has the Republican and Conservative lines, being challenged by Kory Stevens, who is running on the Open Meadows line. In Ripley, James Spacht is being challenged by Jason Jones. Spacht is running on the Vote-4 Integrity line while Jones is running on the Democrat, Republican and Conservative lines.

For justice, of the 18 towns that have a race, none are opposed. Two towns, Dunkirk and Harmony, both have a justice line on the ballot with no candidate names listed.

In the town of Dunkirk, residents there will vote on a proposal to reduce the number of justices in the town from two to one. According to the municipal directory posted on the Chautauqua County Board of Elections website, Dunkirk already has a vacancy for one town justice. The other justice is Christopher Penfold.

Along with the town of Dunkirk, two other towns will have specific questions to vote on. In French Creek voters there are asked to make all elected offices have four year terms. In Poland, voters there are asked to establish the annual contribution to the Kennedy Free Library be established for $75,000 annually.

VILLAGES

Of the 13 villages in Chautauqua County, 10 will have races in November. Of the 10 villages that have races, seven don’t have a single competitive race. The only three that have any races at all are Cassadaga, Falconer and Fredonia.

In Cassadaga, William Astry, Cathleen Cruver and Sean Seibert are running for two trustee seats. Astry and Cruver are running on the Taxpayer line, while Seibert is running on the Kayaker line. Separately, Danna Dubois is running unopposed for trustee vacancy position on the Taxpayer line.

In Falconer, incumbent Mayor James Jaroszynski, a Democrat, is being challenged by Jason Higbee, a Republican. Jaroszynski is also running on the Conservative and Working Families lines.

Fredonia is a bit unique this election season. On the ballot, Michael Ferguson, a Democrat, is running unopposed for mayor. However former Mayor Athanasia Landis, who is also a Democrat, has announced that she is running as a write-in candidate.

For trustees, there are six candidates running for three seats in Fredonia. James Lynden, Ben Brauchler, and Michael Barris are all running on the Democratic line, while Paul Wandel, Jon Espersen and David Bird are all running on the Republican line. Lynden, Espersen and Bird are all incumbents.

CITIES

Both Dunkirk and Jamestown have nearly full slates of contests.

In Dunkirk, there are contested races for mayor, treasurer, council at large, and all four wards. The only city race that is not contested is clerk board of assessors.

In Jamestown, there is a contest for mayor and five of the six wards. There are also five candidates running for three at-large positions. For the at-large positions, two of the candidates are Democrats and three candidates are Republicans. The two Democrats are also running on the Working Families line, while all three Republican candidates are running on the Conservative line.

The only contests that are uncontested in Jamestown are Ward 2 council and city judge.