May 3rd, 2022 Daily Headlines

Two county legislators may find themselves in the same district after redistricting. The Tompkins County Independent Redistricting Commission has released a proposal for the legislature’s new electoral maps. The new lines would define a new 2nd district where legislator Veronica Pillar, and 4th district legislator Rich John currently live. The county code requires legislators to live in the districts they represent. The proposal would also expand the number of districts to 16 leaving three new districts without an incumbent representative. 

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The County Board of Elections has released official results from the Lansing Village elections held last week. The village elected two members to the board of trustees: Susan Ainslie and Jeffrey Dobbin. Both ran on the Community party and each received 65 votes. Ainslie and Dobbin were unopposed in the election. Previous trustees Simon Moll and Randy Smith chose not to seek re-election. 

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Congressional candidates are responding to the state court of appeals decision throwing out the state’s new congressional maps. According to the Ithaca Voice, Democratic Candidates Josh Riley, Sarah Klee Hood, Francis Conole, and Vanessa Fajans-Turner have all vowed to continue their campaigns for congress. Both Republican candidates, Mike Sigler and Brandon Williams have also announced they will continue their campaigns. As of publishing Chol Majok and Sam Roberts have yet to announce their plans.

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New York state has seen a continued surge in COVID-19 cases. According to the Democrat and Chronicle, the surge began in the Central New York and Finger Lakes regions. The surge has now spread throughout the state but mainly centered in upstate regions and has been fueled by sub-variants of the Omicron COVID variant. Data from the CDC shows several upstate counties now at high risk of COVID-19. Both Tompkins and Schuyler counties are listed as high risk.