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In the handful of local primaries Tuesday, some challengers did well, including in the city of Dunkirk as well as the towns of Arkwright, Dayton, Dunkirk, Mina, and Ripley.
DUNKIRK CITY
Challenger Don Williams Jr. has defeated incumbent Natalie Luczkowiak for the Working Families line for Ward I. Williams received 17 votes while Luczkowiak received 5.
Williams is enrolled with the Working Families Party, while Luczkowiak is enrolled with the Democratic Party.
For November, Luczkowiak has the Democratic line, while Williams has the Conservative line.
For November, Luczkowiak has the Democratic line, while Williams has the Conservative line.
Luczkowiak was critical of her opponent in her defeat. "As a staunch Democrat and a long-time affiliate of the Working Families Party, I fully embody these parties' progressive principles. I do not switch parties every few months in a vain attempt to gain the endorsement of one party or another. Opponent Don Williams has switched from Democrat to Working Families Party, to Republican and then to Working Families Party most recently. I am looking forward to defeating him again in November," she said in an emailed statement to the OBSERVER Tuesday night.
ARKWRIGHT
In the Republican primary race for two town council seats, there are five votes that separate all three candidates, with one vote separating the bottom two.
Polly Gambino received 26 votes, Christopher Canon received 22 votes and Lynn Bedford, the incumbent, received 21 votes.
Chautauqua County Republican Election Commissioner Brian Abram said this is the only race that can be affected by absentee ballots. There is one absentee ballot that was issued that has not yet been returned. If that ballot comes in and the individual votes for Bedford, the second council seat would end with a tie. In that case, the town Republican committee would decide which candidate would get the line.
For November, Canon and Gambino also have the Conservative line.
DUNKIRK TOWN
For the Republican primary race for two town council seats, Jean Crane, an incumbent, received 37 votes and Shari Miller received 32 votes. Incumbent G. Jay Bishop received 22 votes. There were two write-in votes cast as well.
Miller and Bishop both have the Conservative line, so it appears all three names will be on the ballot in November.
MINA
In the Republican primary race for two town council seats, there are seven votes that separate the bottom two candidates.
The top vote getter was Richard Cooper with 119 votes. Coming in second was Christine Craffey with 81 votes and third was Stephen Burmaster, the incumbent, with 74 votes.
None of the candidates listed have a second line for the November race.
NORTH HARMONY
In the race for highway superintendent, incumbent Benny Karlson defeated challenger Kory Stevens for the Republican line. Karlson received 126 votes, while Stevens received 62.
For November, Karlson also has the Conservative line, while Stevens will be listed on the Open Meadows Party line, an independent line.
RIPLEY
In the race for highway superintendent, challenger Jason Jones won both the Republican and Conservative lines over incumbent James Spacht.
For the Republican primary, Jones received 119 votes while Spacht received 103. There were two write-in votes as well.
For the Conservative primary, Jones received 14 votes while Spacht received 4.
Jones also has the Democratic line.
Spacht will still be on the ballot in November because he has the Vote-4-Integrity line.
In the Republican primary for two seats for town council, there were three votes that separated the bottom two contestants. Calvin Janes was the top vote getter with 150 votes. Coming in second was Jeffry Lyon with 126 votes, while Philip Chimera, the incumbent, received 123 votes. There were also six write-in votes.
All three candidates have secured other party lines as well. Chimera has secured the Democratic and Conservative lines. Janes has also secured the Democratic line. Lyon has the Vote-4-Integrity line.
CATTARAUGUS COUNTY - DAYTON
There were four contests for enrolled Republican voters. For town supervisor, Aaron Huber was the top vote getter with 120 votes. Jacqueline Mac Donald received 82 and Paul Luce, the incumbent, received 14. There was one write-in vote as well.
For the two town council seats, incumbents Jake Hansen-Ivett and David Kohler were the top vote getters. Hansen-Ivett received 119 votes and Kohler received 114. Challengers Thomas Chupa received 92 and Donna Crisanti received 63 votes.
For town clerk, Kelly Kuhaneck received 109 votes while incumbent Rachelle Cook received 103.
For highway superintendent, incumbent Larry Miller received 123 votes and Brian Taber received 97.
RECOUNTS
According to Abram, hand recounting will be required for all races that have less than a 20-vote margin difference. That means all of the races in Chautauqua County, except for the North Harmony highway superintendent, will be subject to hand recount. That will take place July 5.
VOTER TURNOUT
According to Abram, there were only 22 votes cast in early voting over a nine-day period. That equals 72 hours of early voting. Early voting is required by the state.
The numbers increased greatly on Tuesday. "Turnout was not bad. … We're looking at about 28% of the individuals that had the opportunity to vote in a very limited primary," said Abram. "We're happy about that because we saw less than 1% of the individuals turn out for early voting."