Grand Island primary voters to select candidates for supervisor, councilmember, clerk

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Key Grand Island offices of town supervisor, councilmember and town clerk are on the ballot in this year’s Republican and Working Families primaries. There is no Democratic primary for 2023. Early voting is underway, and the primary election is Tuesday, June 27.

Republican voters will choose one town supervisor candidate and two councilmembers to appear on the GOP ballot line in the Nov. 7 general election. Vying for the GOP supervisor line for the four-year term are Peter J. Marston Jr., the endorsed GOP candidate; and Michael H. Madigan.

Running for the Republican councilmember ballot line in the general election are Thomas A. Digati and Joseph V. Spinella, both endorsed by the Grand Island Republican Committee; and Daniel F. Kilmer. Primary voters can choose any two from the three-person field of candidates for the four-year term.

The Working Families Party has a primary for one office, that of town clerk, and one candidate listed by name, George M. Hauss, plus an opportunity to cast a write-in-vote. Current Town Clerk Pattie Frentzel gathered enough petition signatures to initiate a primary, with the intent of having voters put her name in the write-in spot on the Working Families line. She will also have the Republican and Conservative ballot lines in the Nov. 7 election.

Early voting began Saturday, June 17, and continues from noon to 9 p.m. Friday, June 23, through Sunday, June 25.

Primary election voting hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday, June 27. There are 13 polling places on Grand Island. To locate your polling place and a sample ballot, go to https://www.elections.erie.gov and click on “Voter Lookup & View Sample Ballot.”

On Monday afternoon, four elections inspectors – Stephanie Cowart, Alice Gerard, Karen Krawczyk and Linda Lichtenthal – staffed the only early voting site on Grand Island, the WNY Welcome Center, 1999 Alvin Road. The site will not be open for primary day, itself.

 “Voter turnout for early voting has been very sparse.” Cowart said. “It’s typical for Grand Island. I think people do know about it. However, I think they will come out on next Tuesday for primary day. … It’s more traditional.”

She likes the Welcome Center as a polling place: “This is a perfect site for voting, especially for early voting. It’s so airy, it’s so open – and we’re very nice here; we’re accommodating. I wish it were a regular site.”

For bios of the Republican candidates for supervisor and councilmember, see this week's Island Dispatch.

Election inspectors, from left, are Alice Gerard, Karen Krawczyk and Stephanie Cowart. Not shown is Linda Lichtenthal. They were staffing Grand Island’s early voting site, the WNY Welcome Center, 1999 Alvin Road, on Monday afternoon.

Primary election campaign signs for Grand Island candidates are posted at the approved distance from the early voting site, the WNY Welcome Center, 1999 Alvin Road on Grand Island. This site will not be among the 13 open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on primary day, Tuesday, June 27.