The Niagara County Democratic Committee is backing candidates in 12 of 15 county legislature elections this year, aiming to provide competition for incumbent Republican lawmakers who haven’t had any in awhile.
In addition, the committee is backing Lockport resident Donna Sholk’s bid to take on freshman Republican state Assembly Member Paul Bologna in the 144th District, and Thomas Arida’s challenge of fellow North Tonawanda resident, state Sen. Robert Ortt, the current senate minority leader.
Committee chair Anita Mullane on Wednesday furnished a list of the candidates for various offices who have been endorsed by the county Democratic committee. The list shows the committee getting involved in local elections in almost every community in the county, which hasn’t been the case in recent years. In addition, the committee has identified candidates for every state legislature and U.S. congressional post representing some or all of Niagara County.
Mullane agreed the party is more active in the 2026 election cycle than it has been in about a decade and said she thinks the reason for that is twofold. Last November, voters approved an increase in the length of Niagara County legislators’ term of office, to four years from two years, effective Jan. 1, 2027, and the longer term makes the office more attractive to pursue. Simultaneously, she said, affordability issues are becoming top-of-mind everywhere, and more people are thinking, “maybe I should get more involved.”
“I’m thrilled that people want to run. I think people know they have to get involved if we’re going to make change for the better,” Mullane said.
“I’m hoping that by having 12 opponents (for Republican county legislature candidates) we can make a difference,” she added. “I think everyone should have an opponent. … It’s good for people to hear both sides.”
These are the prospective candidates endorsed by the county Democratic Committee:
Niagara County Legislature
District 3 — Matt Chavez
District 4 — Jeffrey Elder, incumbent
District 5 — Johnny Parks
District 6 — Sam Farruggia, incumbent
District 7 — Doug Mooradian
District 8 — Matt Kennedy
District 9 — Tim Osborn
District 10 — John Lavelle
District 11 — Bryan (Nels) Thompson
District 12 — Carla Speranza, incumbent
District 13 — Jocelyn Welton
District 15 — Maria Fabrizio
Various local offices
County coroner, 1st District (Niagara Falls) — Clayton Powell
Country treasurer — Kyle Andrews, incumbent
Cambria town supervisor — Duncan Ross
Pendleton town justice — Todd Ostrowski, incumbent
Wilson town clerk — Marquette Perry
New York State Legislature
Assembly District 144 — Donna Sholk
Assembly District 145 — Nate McMurray
Assembly District 140 — William Conrad, incumbent
U.S. Congress
NY-23 — Aaron Gies
NY-24 — Alissa Ellman
NY-26 — Tim Kennedy, incumbent
The Niagara County Republican Committee has endorsed candidates for all 15 county legislator posts, and all incumbent legislators who affiliate with the GOP-led majority caucus are running for election, committee chair Rich Andres said. In addition, the committee endorsed Ortt, state Assembly Member Paul Bologna (144th District), candidate Rebecca Wydysh in the 145th Assembly District, U.S. Reps. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) and Claudia Tenney (NY-24), and Dennis Hannon to take on Kennedy in NY-26. The committee endorsed candidates for various local offices as well, but did not generate a list and publicize it, Andres said. Instead, publicity is left up to the candidates.
Candidate nominating petitions are being circulated through April 2. This is the time when prospective candidates must obtain a certain number of signatures from registered voters to secure party lines on the ballot. Only registered Democrats can sign for a candidate who’s going for a Democratic ballot line, only registered Republicans can sign for a candidate who’s pursuing the GOP ballot line, et cetera; and for their signatures to be valid, voters must reside in the election district where they’re signing for a candidate.