Early voting is underway in New York and all eyes are on the presidential race.

But that’s not the only office up for election.

Congressional and some Senate seats are on the ballot, as well as local races that vary depending on where you live.

In Genesee County, almost all local seats are unopposed. In fact, of the 15 local offices on the ballot, there are only two contested seats and there is not a single Democratic candidate in the heavily Republican county.

WBFO’s Holly Kirkpatrick spoke with Howard Owens, editor of The Batavian, to find out why so many of the county’s elections are uncontested and to discuss the issues that concern people there. You can listen to their conversation by clicking the Listen button or read the transcript below.

WBFO: Why are so many Genesee County seats uncontested?

Owens: My perception – I’ve been watching Genesee County for about 16 years – and my perception is that there has always been a small number of Democratic candidates. Democrats have always complained about their difficulty recruiting candidates for office and have made great efforts in this regard. I would say that over the last few years, especially since Trump took office, the feedback I’ve gotten from local Democrats is that it’s become much more difficult to recruit candidates. You know, this is a heavily red county and there’s a lot of support for Trump here and there’s a lot of concern that as a Democratic candidate you’re going to face a lot of negative reactions from people.

WBFO: So what topics are your readers generally talking about?

Owens: I think everyone has been focused on the presidential race and, you know, what people see as the disparity between the two candidates. Clearly there is a lot of support for Trump here. Nobody budges from this position.

WBFO: And what about immigration? You know, this comes up a lot at Trump rallies. Is this being talked about in Genesee County?

Owens: Especially for Trump supporters. I mean, when they talk about Trump, one of the first topics they bring up is immigration. You know, that seems to be a concern and it’s kind of a dividing line even among the Republicans here because so many of our Republicans in this county who are Republicans are also in agriculture and tend to have a different approach to the immigration than many other Republicans these days.

WBFO: In what way?

Owens: Well, you know, they’ve had a labor shortage for a long time, and so they want something done to help bring labor back into agriculture.

WBFO: And use immigrants to do that?

Owens: Right. I mean, for 40 or 50 years, immigrants have been the primary source of labor for farmers across the country. So it becomes much more difficult to reap the harvest, so to speak, if you don’t have an experienced workforce.

WBFO: Genesee County is in New York’s 24th Congressional District. The race there is between Republican Claudia Tenney, the incumbent, and Democrat David Wagenhauser. Is this race even registered?

Owens: I would say it hasn’t come up at all. I didn’t hear anyone talking about race. I understand that Tenney made a public trip to Genesee County in connection with his campaign. I mean, nothing has been released publicly – she may have done fundraisers that aren’t necessarily made public. But her only appearance here was when the GOP opened its local campaign headquarters, and that’s what she was here for. Otherwise, I didn’t see her campaigning here at all. I didn’t see (Wagenhauser) campaigning here at all. Again, he may have appearances that are not made public, but we are not aware of any appearances here.

WBFO: I spoke with Genesee County Democratic Commissioner Laurie Longhany on Monday – the third day of early voting – about early voter turnout in Genesee County, and she said the first day of early voting was a record turnout. Does that surprise you at all?

Owens: Not per se. Our news editor voted that day and reported, you know, she stood up and reported that there were lines. That was surprising to her. So it’s perhaps surprising – we’ve never seen this before. Observation (voting) over all the years – and nothing has changed this year – shows that the two election officials always get along very well. They are very cooperative. They are both focused on the same task: ensuring that, as you know, a free and fair election takes place and that all votes are properly counted and tabulated. And so I would say one thing: I think people can have confidence that the results in Genesee County, whatever they are, accurately reflect the votes that were cast.

WBFO: Howard Owens, editor of The Batavian, thank you for the interview.

Owens: Thank you very much.