When it comes to politics in Genesee County, Howard Owens of The Batavian has his finger on the pulse of the electorate. The race for sheriff has captured his attention and the attention of his readers. "We have the incumbent sheriff, William Sheron, who is on the Republican line and, then, David Krzemien who both has the Democratic endorsement and then he got enough signatures to create a Pro-Second Amendment line."
Owens points out that a Democrat hasn't been elected as Genesee County Sheriff since Doug Call in 1980.
"There are a surprising number of yard signs for David around the community. He's taken out some advertising and has been, kind of, out in the community a bit, as much as you can in the COVID era," Owens said.
However, Owens says "there's no single galvanizing issue so it's hard to see in a Republican county Bill Sheron not winning it."
That will almost certainly be the case in the Presidential election. Trump enjoyed enthusiastic support in 2016. Based on the number of signs, flags and trailers displaying the Trump name seen throughout Genesee County, it appears most voters will support reelection on Tuesday.
Owens made a point of sharing an observation of the vibrant comment section at The Batavian.
"Over say the last year compared to the run up to the 2016 election, it used to be you didn't see a lot of anti-Trump comments. And I'm seeing a lot more of that," Owens said.
"I don't know if that's just their willingness to speak up or if that shows that there are a lot more anti-Trump voters out there that might cut into what we normally expect is a two-to-one (voter) margin."
