The OBSERVER’s View: Recent history shows county runs red
Recent history shows county runs red
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It was in 2018 when the tide officially turned in Chautauqua County. At that time, the Board of Elections released the official voter registration enrollment totals for 76,447 residents.
For the first time since 2008, there were more registered Republicans in Chautauqua County than Democrats. Numbers that year had Republicans at 25,775 and Democrats at 25,235. It was a close margin, but the dominoes began to fall.
By 2023, red was driving the results. A Post-Journal article noted then that even though there's only 5% more registered Republicans than Democrats in Chautauqua County, Republicans held more than 70% of all elected offices.
This November marks the midterm elections. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, plus one-third of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate are up for a vote. In addition, New York state has a major race for governor between incumbent Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman.
Closer to home, there also are county legislator elections. Of the 19 seats, 12 are held by Republicans and seven by Democrats.
If our weekly poll is any indication, it will likely stay that way. Results from the question "Does political affiliation matter in local elections?" found 62% saying yes and 38% disagreeing.
Our poll question for this week: Do you have growing concerns about risks with artificial intelligence?