Republicans will hold onto their majorities in the U-S House and Senate as President-Elect Donald Trump come into office next January. Local Congressman Tom Reed, who was re-elected to a fourth term, says he is looking forward to change under a Trump presidency. During a conference call late Tuesday with regional media... Reed said he expects that one of the first tasks of the new administration will be to repeal Obamacare, something he fully supports. Reed, who served on Trump's campaign, says another goal is to simplify the nation's tax code for everyone. He says it needs to be "fairer and simpler." Reed adds "it's time" for reform. He defeated Democrat John Plumb... and, received about 55-percent of the vote. The Corning Republican won in 10 of the district's 11 counties -- including Chautauqua. Plumb's only victory came in Tompkins County... which leans strongly Democratic.
The Presidential election brought a lot of new faces to the polling sites on Election Day in Chautauqua County. That from County Democratic Election's Commissioner Norm Green... who says that turnout was higher than expected locally. Green says the staff assisted a lot voters who hadn't cast a ballot in years... or never before. He adds... for some... it was the first time they had used the relatively new, Optical Scan voting machines in an election. Those were brought into the county in 2008. Green says they had to deal with the usual issues... but, no major problems were reported at any of the 51 polling places in Chautauqua County.
Local Congressman Tom Reed was re-elected to another term serving the sprawling Southern Tier District of New York state by about 10-percentage points. Reed declared victory shortly after 11 last night at his headquarters in Corning... defeating Lakewood-area Democrat John Plumb by about 30-thousand votes. He also won 10 of the 11 counties in the district. Reed believes his and his office's efforts to provide constituent service has led to his re-election for a fourth-term. At his election night headquarters in Jamestown last night... Plumb conceeded -- but, said he was proud of the campaign they ran of integrity and honor -- values he ran his entire campaign on. He believes they're also a big part of the entire district. Plumb thanked his supporters... especially his wife, and parents... for standing by him in this "uphill battle." In Chautauqua County... Reed received 27-thousand-397 votes to Plumb's 19-thousand-901.
Making Chautauqua County "first" will be the top priority for local State Assemblyman Andy Goodell... who has been returned to Albany for another two-year term. The Bemus Point-area Republican defeated Brocton Democrat Jason Perdue, 34-thousand-994 to 12-thousand-193. In declaring victory last night... Goodell expressed his appreciation to the residents of Chautauqua County for re-electing him. Goodell commending the Democrats running in all the local races for running good, issue oriented campaigns. With the campaign over... he says he wants to continue doing as much as possible to boost the local economy by making the state more "business-friendly" to help create more jobs... and, reduce Welfare rolls. Goodell says another priority is to deal with the heroin and opioid addiction crisis in the county, and the rest of the state. He says he also wants to see issues with Common Core addressed.
Propositions received mixed results on Election Night. The county's Board of Elections reports that a measure to lengthen county legislature terms from 2 to 4-years was soundly rejected. Residents defeated the measure with 27-thousand-14 voting no... and, only 16-thousand-438 voting for the measure.
In Forestville... the dissolution process for the north county village will continue after residents decided to continue the effort, 195-to-125. The village would be dissolved into the town of Hanover.
The new chairman of the Chautauqua County Republican Committee says he's very pleased with the outcome of Tuesday's elections. Jamestown's Dave Wilfong was elected to the post about a month before the election, replacing the retired Al Hendrickson. Wilfong was disappointed that challenger Jason Schmidt did not win the District Attorney's race... but, congratulated both him, and winner Patrick Swanson on a strong campaign.
Otherwise... Wilfong was pleased to see Republicans have a big night Tuesday. At the same time... he says he felt like he went from the "frying pan into the fire" with the election so close to him taking the reins. He says it's the first time that he had been so heavily involved in an election. Wilfong is also a member of the Chautauqua County Legislature. Several dozen Republicans were on hand Tuesday night at Election Night headquarters at the Celoron American Legion.
The Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services has been notified of a recall of a part of the atomizer used to spray naloxone into a Heroin overdose victim. However... Health and Human Services Director Christine Schuyler says actual naloxone in the delivery device is still okay to use. Schuyler says the defective atomizer sprays the medicine in a straight line... not the mist it's supposed to. She says Teleflex Medical... which makes the atomizer device... just issued the recall. Schuyler urges those who may be in possession of the defective naloxone atomizers to NOT discard the naloxone medication. For specific recall information... and lot numbers... she says go to the CCDHHS website at Co-dot-Chautauqua-dot-NY-dot-US/802/Recall-Notice.
