ROCHESTER, NY – Tuesday is primary day in New York for a handful of New York state congressional and Senate races.
In the Finger Lakes region, there is a three-candidate Republican primary for New York’s new 24th Congressional District. This district now includes all of Wayne and Cayuga counties.
This is the second primary this summer after all the delays and back and forth over proper redistricting procedures. The redrawing of political maps in the state means that registered Republican voters in Wayne and Cayuga counties will help decide who the Republican candidate for Congress in the 24th District will be on the ballot this November.
There are three candidates in this Republican primary: Rep. Claudia Tenney, Mario Fratto and George Phillips.
In Wayne County, the commissioner of the Republican Board of Elections says early primary voting has been disappointing so far. Only 105 registered Republicans in Wayne County voted in the nine days of early voting. He says that in the June primary, only 150 people went to vote early. The cost to the BOE, he says, was $70,000 to run all those sites. Expect voters to show up on primary day.
“Early voting turnout so far has been very dismal,” said Wayne County BOE Commissioner John Zornow. “It’s a federal Republican primary. We’re a county of 90,000 residents with 23,000 registered Republicans, so it wasn’t a good turnout. People tend to vote only in important elections but you have to be available and follow the state rules and that’s .”
The polls are open until Tuesday at 9 pm.
The winner of that Republican primary will face Democrat Steven Holden in the November election.
The 24th District is considered solidly Republican, so the winner of the Republican Primary will likely win the general election and be the next member of Congress.
