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Dunkirk Mayor Sees Tough Fight On Election Night

Voters are pictured in the center section of the National Comedy Center, Tuesday. P-J photo by Carly Gould

Incumbent Willie Rosas had a tough election night fight to retain his position as Dunkirk Mayor, eking out a 1,590 to 1,542 vote lead over challenger Shaun Heenan in unofficial results.

Rosas leads by 48 votes with 123 absentee ballots still to be counted.

Races for the Dunkirk City Council were won by Republican Paul VanDenVouver, 1,757 to 1,259, over Democrat Frank J. Beach for an at-large position. In Ward 1, Donald Williams Jr. was elected with 1,770 votes to Republican Dennis Welka’s 1,157 votes. Democrat Martin Bamonto was unopposed in Ward 2 and received 2,197 votes. In Ward 3, Republican James Stoyle was elected with 1,829 votes to 1,187 votes for Democrat Miriam Lugo Alfaro. Nancy J. Nichols earned the Ward 4 position with 1,610 votes over Democrat Michael Civiletto’s 1,401 votes. Mark Woods (2,475) was unopposed for Dunkirk treasurer and Thomas Mleczko (2,454) was unopposed for the City Clerk Board of Assessors.

In other town election results:

¯ Arkwright — Democrat Ted Wightman was elected to be town supervisor with 240 votes with Republican Lawrence Ball receiving 158 votes. Democrat Wendy J. Lord has a 202-189 lead over Republican Jane A. Lindquist in the race for town clerk. The race for two Arkwright Town Board seats will come down to absentee ballots. Democrat Christopher Jackson leads with 205 votes, followed by Republican Lynn Bedford with 190 votes and Republican Stephen Mead with 182 votes. Trailing further back are Democrat Roger Cardot with 140 votes and Conservative Party candidate Frederic Norton with 58 votes. Craig Harrington, a Democrat, has won the town’s highway superintendent job 249-157 over Republican James M. Ziemba. John Potter received 334 votes running unopposed for town justice.

¯ Carroll — Russell Payne will be the next town supervisor after receiving 691 votes to incumbent Laura Smith’s 466. Democrat Susan Rowley received 685 votes to become Carroll’s next town clerk with incumbent Tenniel Stelmack receiving 467 votes. Kenneth Dahlgren Jr. received 768 votes for the Carroll Town Board while Thomas E. Allison received 737 votes. Both will be on the Town Board. Democrat Linnea Carlson received 459 votes. Robert E. Gray and Timothy Wright will be the town justices. Gray received 1,064 votes while Wright received 736 votes. James Mitchener III ran unopposed to fill a vacancy for town highway superintendent and received 1,078 votes.

¯ Charlotte — Republicans Mark Jaquith and Harold North will take seats on the Charlotte Town Board after receiving 304 and 282 votes, respectively, to outpace Democrat Kenneth Bochmann’s 99 votes. Jeffrey S. Crossley ran unopposed for town justice and received 331 votes.

¯ Chautauqua — There were no contested races in the town of Chautauqua, with Democrats running unopposed. Don Emhardt will remain as town supervisor, receiving 722 votes. Rebecca Luba will continue as town clerk with 926 votes, Timothy Hull will serve as town justice with 694 votes, Kenneth Burnett and Scott Cummings will be on the Chautauqua Town Board with 725 and 877 votes, respectively, and Daniel Thorsell will be the highway superintendent after receiving 915 votes.

¯ Cherry Creek — William Young will remain as town supervisor after running unopposed and receiving 174 votes while Mia M. Abbey will remain as tax collector after also running unopposed and receiving 196 votes. Three candidates ran unopposed for the Cherry Creek Town Board, with Republican Bruce Hendricks leading with 129 votes. Democrats Ryan Lepp and Matthew West received 108 and 102 votes, respectively, with the race possibly to be decided by absentee ballots.

¯ Clymer — There were no contested races in Clymer, with Republicans running unopposed for all positions. Travis Heiser (245 votes) will serve as town supervisor, Stephanie Bailey (245 votes) will serve as town clerk, Laurie Beckerink (249 votes) will serve as town justice, Brian Willink (238 votes) and Melissa Ranney (231 votes) will serve on the Clymer Town Board, Scott Trisket (245 votes) will serve as highway superintendent and Willowe Neckers will serve as tax collector (238 votes).

¯ Dunkirk — Running unopposed, Republicans G. Jay Bishop and Henry Walldorff were elected to the Town Board with 211 and 208 votes, respectively.

¯ Ellery — Republicans ran unopposed for all four town offices on Tuesday. Arden Johnson (792 votes) continues as town supervisor while Mark Schlemmer and Steven K. Hayes were elected to the Ellery Town Board with 786 and 816 votes, respectively. Rebecca Haines will continue as town clerk with 878 votes and Greg Hallberg will be highway superintendent with 853 votes.

¯ Ellicott — Ellery’s town supervisor will only have to run for office once every four years after a local law extending the supervisor’s term was approved, 910 to 617.

Only one race was contested, with incumbent Ellicott Town Board Katy Whitmore, a Republican, elected with 300 votes over challenger Vanessa Braun of the Working Families party with 43 votes in Ward 3. Democrat Patrick Tyler was unopposed in Ward 1 with 234 votes and Republican Daniel Heitzenrater received 396 votes in Ward 4 and Janet Bowman, a Republican, received 396 votes in Ward 2. Patrick McLaughlin was re-elected with 1,413 votes, Amy Bellardo was elected town clerk with 1,607 votes and Marilyn Gerace was elected town justice with 1,258 votes.

¯ Ellington — Karen Bifaro will serve as Ellington’s town supervisor after defeating Republican Kelly Rhinehart, 351 to 154, while Democrat Kate Conti will serve as town clerk after defeating Republican Jeffery Hitchcock, 340-166. Clifford Potter ran unopposed for town justice and received 465 votes. In the race for the Ellington Town Board, Republicans Bradley Griffith and David Brainard received 285 and 254 votes, respectively, while Democrats Barbara Beightol and Jeffrey Chase received 225 and 188 votes, respectively. Republican William Green was elected as town highway superintendent with 291 votes to Democrat Dennis Colvenback’s 220 votes.

¯ French Creek — There were no contested races in French Creek, with Republicans running unopposed. Vote totals were 137 for town supervisor David White, 140 for town clerk Arlene Bemis, 131 for town justice Janae Ryan, 135 and 113, respectively, for French Creek Town Board members Paul Carey and Brynne Hinsdale, 144 for highway superintendent Stephen Linton and 136 for tax collector Brenda White.

¯ Gerry — Three offices were uncontested. Richard Heath will be town supervisor after receiving 312 votes. Kevin Sirwatka will be town justice after receiving 314 votes and Bruce Gustafson and Gary Swan will be on the town board after receiving 308 and 306 votes, respectively.

¯ Hanover — Republicans won three contested races in Hanover. Republican Timothy Crino received 938 votes to defeat Democrat Ruthann Rocque for town clerk while Republican James McGowan defeated Democrat Martin Buchnowski, 1,083 to 539, for town justice. The race for two town board seats was won by Republicans Louis Pelletter (1,294 votes) and Wayne Ashley (1,216 votes) with Democrat Ralph Crawford receiving 499 votes. Peter Pelletter ran unopposed for highway superintendent and received 1,383 votes.

¯ Harmony — Republicans Timothy Covey (331 votes) and Jeffrey Jordan (278 votes) were elected to the Harmony Town Board with Democrat Ashley Senske finishing third with 126 votes. Republicans ran unopposed for town supervisor, town clerk, highway superintendent, tax collector and town justice. John Brown (360 votes) was re-elected town supervisor, Shelley Johnson was re-elected town clerk with 357 votes, Timothy Card was re-elected highway superintendent with 368 votes, Carrie Finnerty was re-elected tax collector with 368 votes and Mark Stow was elected town justice with 349 votes. A local law increasing the terms of the town supervisor, town clerk, highway superintendent and tax collector from two years to four years was approved, 225-132.

¯ Kiantone — There were no contested races in Kiantone. Republican Joshua Ostrander will be town supervisor after receiving 298 votes; Republican Gail Davis will be town clerk after receiving 298 votes; Republicans Timothy Kolstee (281 votes) and Valerie McDonald (267 votes) were elected to the Kiantone Town Board and Democrat Robert Carlson was elected highway superintendent with 285 votes.

¯ Mina — Republicans Ernest Roche and Stephen Burmaster ran unopposed for two town board positions, receiving 209 and 163 votes, respectively.

¯ Propositions to increase the terms for town supervisor, town clerk and highway superintendent from two years to four years were approved by votes of 273-208, 299-205, and 306-186, respectively. Republicans ran unopposed for elected office, with Robert Yates continuing as town supervisor after receiving 424 votes, Nancy Thomas continuing as town clerk after receiving 424 votes, and Louise Ortman and Duncan McNeil being re-elected to the North Harmony Town Board with 399 and 390 votes, respectively. Dan Strickland was re-elected highway superintendent with 427 votes.

¯ Poland — Three candidates ran for two seats on the Poland Town Board, with Republican Norman Gustafson (393 votes) and Democrat Terry Walker (280 votes) elected to office with Democrat Steven Wallace receiving 222 votes. Larry Mee was re-elected highway superintendent, 320 votes to 249 votes, over Democrat Donald Holt. Kelly Snow (492 votes) was unopposed for town supervisor and Judith Shields (509 votes) was unopposed for town justice.

¯ Pomfret — Democrat Daniel Pacos was elected to fill a vacant position as town supervisor, 1,780 to 1,398, over Republican David Penharlow. Republican Nancy Dietzen (2,650) was unopposed for town clerk. Four candidates ran for two Pomfret Town Board seats, with Republican Ann Eckman (1,851 votes) and Republican John Sedota (1,676 votes) elected while Democrats Robert Sellers and Robert Dando Jr. received 1,330 and 1,261 votes, respectively.

¯ Portland — Republicans Gary Miller and Patricia Farrell ran unopposed for the Portland Town Board and received 549 and 529 votes, respectively.

¯ Ripley — There is a tie for the second Ripley Town Board position. Democrat Michael Rowe received 373 votes while Democrat Laurel Adams and Republican Philip Chimera each received 308 votes. Democrat James Spacht was elected highway superintendent, 418 votes to 208 votes, over Republican Daniel Babcock. Running unopposed were Democrats Douglas Bowen (497 votes) for town supervisor, Rebecca Carvallo (529 votes) for town clerk and Vera Hustead (501 votes) for town justice.

¯ Sheridan — Republican Jonathan Szumigala ran unopposed for town justice and received 622 votes. Republicans Colleen Yerico and Thomas Wik were elected to the town board with 555 and 567 votes, respectively, with Democrat Susan Bigler receiving 198 votes.

¯ Sherman — Republicans James Higginbotham and Bessie Endress were elected to the Sherman Town Board with 210 and 189 votes, respectively, with Democrat Teresa Guzman receiving 122 votes. Republicans running unopposed were town supervisor Mark Persons (232 votes), town clerk Tamera Weise (253 votes), town justice James VanVolkenburg (245 votes) and highway superintendent Dennis Sweatman (245 votes).

¯ Stockton — There were no contested races in Stockton. David Wilson received 416 votes for town supervisor; Kathryn Palmer received 430 votes for town clerk; John Beichner and Bryan Meder received 408 and 388 votes for town board, respectively; and Aaron Burnett received 423 votes for highway superintendent.

¯ Villenova — Democrat Yvonne Park will serve as town supervisor after receiving 184 votes against challenger Julie Delcamp, endorsed by the Liberterian Party, who received 106 votes. In the race for two Villenova Town Board seats, Democrats Keith Butcher and Sarah LoManto were elected with 202 and 182 votes, respectively, with Liberterian Party candidates John Dudley Robinson and Susan Baldwin receiving 103 and 89 votes, respectively. Running unopposed were Julie Goodway (245 votes) for town clerk and Douglas Rumsey (231 votes) for highway superintendent.

¯ Westfield — Republicans David Brown (744 votes) and James Herbert Sr. (626 votes) were elected to two Westfield Town Board seats with Democrat Steven Rudnicki receiving 430 votes. Running unopposed were Republican Martha Bills (786 votes) for town supervisor; Democrat Andrea Babcock (866 votes) for town clerk; Democrat James Spann (705 votes) for town justice; and Democrat David Babcock (998 votes) for highway superintendent.

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