WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – North country voters will decide Tuesday on candidates for Watertown city council, county legislatures in Jefferson and Lewis counties and a variety of town and village offices.
Voting begins at 6 AM and end ends at 9 PM.
WWNY and WNYF Fox 28 will report results as we get them. If past elections are any indicator, the majority of the results will come in between 10 and 11 PM. If none of the races are close, we should have pretty much complete results, and be able to say who won, by 11 PM.
There are two primaries for Watertown city council – there are two four year terms up for election, and one for the remaining two years of council member Jesse Roshia’s term. Roshia resigned earlier this year after taking a job in Syracuse.
In the race for the four year terms, voters will vote for two candidates. The top four vote getters will go on to election day in November. The candidates are Michelle Capone, Robert Schorr, Cliff Olney, Lisa Ruggiero, Aaron Clemons, Doug Rice, and Ben Shoen.
In the race for the remainder of Roshia’s term, voters will vote for one candidate, and the top two vote getters will go on to election day in November. The candidates are Amy Horton, Patrick Hickey, and Jason Traynor.
Because both primaries are “non-partisan” – not affiliated with any political party – any registered voter in the city of Watertown can vote.
If the city council primaries of 2017 and 2019 are any indication, there will be about 4,800 votes cast in the primary. There are just over 12,000 registered voters in Watertown.
There are also three Republican primaries for seats on the Jefferson County legislature. In District 13, legislature chairman Scott Gray faces T.J. Babcock; in District 7, incumbent John Peck is challenged by Matt Gump (there’s also a Conservative Party primary between the two men); in District 3, veteran legislator Phil Reed is opposed by Gene-Paul Brennan.
There are also three Republican primaries for seats on the Lewis County legislature. In District 7, incumbent Greg Kulzer faces Turin mayor Joshua Leviker (there’s also a Conservative Party primary between the men); in District 5, incumbent Richard Chartrand is challenged by Erik Griffin; in District 10, Jeffrey Nellenback and Lawrence Hoffert face each other in both Republican and Conservative Party primaries.
In addition, there are primaries in all three north country counties for a variety of town and village positions. Most of the primaries are Republican, though there are Democratic primaries for town council in Louisville and Norfolk.
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