The Illusion of Choice: Nearly 80% of Races in WNY This Election Are Uncontested

Election Day is traditionally a time for voters to select the best candidates for their communities.

 

However, in Western New York (WNY), this choice appears increasingly illusory.

 

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Across the eight counties of WNY, there are 647 elections this season.

 

While high-profile contests like the Buffalo mayoral race and various supervisor positions in Amherst, Hamburg, and Orchard Park draw attention, a staggering 79.1% of these races are uncontested.

 

This means that before a single ballot is cast, the outcomes of 511 races are already determined.

 

Only 136 races feature more than one candidate vying for the position, leaving just 21.3% of contests where voters have a genuine choice.

 

Rural counties bear the brunt of this trend.

 

For instance, Allegany County has 117 total races, with only 14 contested, leaving 103 uncontested.

 

Similarly, Cattaraugus County reports 107 total races, 14 contested, and 93 uncontested.

 

Chautauqua County presents 125 total races, 32 contested, and 93 uncontested.

 

Erie County, encompassing Buffalo, shows 116 total races, 44 contested, and 72 uncontested.

 

Genesee County lists 40 total races, 14 contested, and 26 uncontested.

 

Niagara County has 74 total races, 19 contested, and 55 uncontested.

 

Orleans County records 45 total races, 3 contested, and 42 uncontested.

 

Wyoming County reports 63 total races, 7 contested, and 56 uncontested.

 

Governor Kathy Hochul addressed this issue, stating, "It's a really dark place to be sometimes in politics, people feel that. I want them to know that I still believe in the nobility of public service, that there are those of us who've never given up on what the true meaning of this is."

 

This phenomenon isn't unique to WNY or even New York State.

 

Nationally, local elections have seen a decline in candidate participation.

 

Harvey Palmer, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Buffalo, notes, "The reason there's not competition is that people who are well qualified choose not to run, right? What can often be is you have a sort of one-party area, an area which is 60-65% one party, and 30 or less the other party. And right there, your chance of winning as the sort of the minority party candidate is really low."

 

In June 2025, an analysis revealed that nearly 70% of races nationwide were uncontested.

 

New York State led the nation with 287 out of 338 races uncontested, accounting for 84.9%.

 

In the November 2024 General Election, about 35% of the 265 races in New York were uncontested.

 

These figures only represent races tracked by Ballotpedia.

 

Professor Palmer highlights the entrenched partisanship contributing to this trend, with rural districts often dominated by uncontested Republican candidates and urban centers by Democrats.

 

He explains, "Partisans are the easiest to mobilize, because they're the most engaged generally. Is someone going to put in the effort to sort of win in a district where they're not from the majority party? They tend to not, right? I mean, they tend to try to have an impact on the community in another way."

 

To address this issue, state lawmakers have moved local elections to even-numbered years.

 

Governor Hochul signed Senate Bill s3505b into law in December 2023, aligning most town, village, and county elections with state and federal contests.

 

While this move aims to boost voter turnout, it has faced legal challenges.

 

On October 16, 2025, New York's highest court upheld the law, affirming its constitutionality.

 

Governor Hochul praised the decision as a "victory for democracy," emphasizing that it would expand voter participation.

 

However, Erie County GOP Chair Michael Kracker argues that the change is designed to benefit Democrats during even years when national elections are also on the ballot.

 

He contends, "This will be one of the last odd year local elections for most offices. An unfortunate thing, because I think these races, again, are so important to local taxpayers that they deserve to be their own standalone elections, so that the important issues in Hamburg and Grand Island and Buffalo can be heard, but the Democratic Party saw to it that they would be buried under your national and statewide races."

 

Kracker believes that switching elections to even years will make it difficult to attract candidates in some districts.

 

He adds, "The reality is, it's about trying to drown out the local message that Republicans win on and try to nationalize every office, from Highway superintendent to President United States. So I think it's a deeply cynical bill. I think it was a sad effort."

 

Professor Palmer suggests that improving access to information about running for office could help address the lack of competition.

 

He notes, "One thing I discovered in anticipation of doing this interview, was, it's hard to find information about how to run right. I went to the Erie County Board of Elections and I was trying to figure out how many signatures you needed to get on ballots and stuff, and I couldn't find that information."

 

While this might be a simple fix, Palmer acknowledges that there isn't an easy solution.

 

Between social media misinformation and a decrease in local coverage for elections, the number of candidates on ballots in the future remains a concern.

 

He even compared recent elections to those in other nations often criticized for lack of choice.

 

"It's an illusion of choice where, I don't want to say we're an authoritarian system, but it's like what you see in electoral autocracies," Palmer said. "They have elections where you have a choice, right? But it's not a real choice, right? You know, I'm not saying that's the situation, but in some sense, it's similar to it, in that the decision is being made by political elites."

 

Palmer points to the 8th District Judicial race across WNY, where the candidates are cross-endorsed by the Democratic and Republican parties, giving voters no choice in a critically important office.

 

"The undermining of democracy is in how the candidates are selected, right, where the party organization and it can be to promote its candidates across a set of elections and over time, that necessarily isn't bad if you were aligned with what the party wants, right?" Palmer said. "But, in terms of electoral accountability in any particular locality, right, it undermines that."

 

Governor Hochul, while encouraging voter participation at a recent rally, urged people across both parties to stay engaged in the process.

 

"For those who may be feeling discouraged, little cynical and saying it's not for me, take another look, because we need everyone's voices to step up and help their communities move into the next this next new era where people start believing in government again," Gov. Hochul said.

 

As WNY faces an election season dominated by uncontested races, the challenge remains to reinvigorate the democratic process and ensure that voters have real choices at the ballot box.