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Chautauqua County Legislator

District 19

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Candidates
2
Election
Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: The 19-member County Legislature adopts the county budget and local laws and oversees county government.

CandidatesCompare by issue

John Hamels

Democratic, Working Families

Retired school superintendent · Ripley

The gist

  • Supports improving access to services in a high-poverty county
  • Pledges to address root causes of poverty
More about John
View sources (1)

  1. Supports improving access to services in a high-poverty county

    Hamels earns Dem endorsement for Legislature

    News coverage · OBSERVER (Dunkirk) · observertoday.com

    “Presently we are the second poorest county in New York state and access to services needs to improve.”

  2. Pledges to address root causes of poverty

    Hamels earns Dem endorsement for Legislature

    News coverage · OBSERVER (Dunkirk) · observertoday.com

    “The cycle of poverty must be turned around and the root causes dealt with.”

Frederick Johnson

Republican, ConservativeIncumbent

Chautauqua County Legislator, District 19 · Westfield

The gist

  • Opposes using county reserves to cover department shortfalls
  • Supports returning surplus reserves to taxpayers
  • Voted against $105,982 fund-balance draw for county law office
  • Opposes lowering the county sales tax
More about Frederick
View sources (3)

  1. Opposes using county reserves to cover department shortfalls

    GOP legislator wants fund balance reduced

    News coverage · The Post-Journal · post-journal.com

    “The fund balance is a rainy day fund. It is not a slush fund.”

  2. Supports returning surplus reserves to taxpayers

    GOP legislator wants fund balance reduced

    News coverage · The Post-Journal · post-journal.com

    “So there's $15-20 million extra that we could return to the taxpayers”

  3. Voted against $105,982 fund-balance draw for county law office

    Legislature OKs new paralegal, security gates at airport

    News coverage · OBSERVER (Dunkirk) · observertoday.com

    “Voting no to the resolution was Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield.”

  4. Opposes lowering the county sales tax

    Legislature Approves Senior Property Tax Boost

    News coverage · The Post-Journal · post-journal.com

    “A great portion of the sales tax is paid by non-residents”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 2 issues covered in this race.