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Resignation of Lewis County Treasurer Prompts
Addition of Position to November Ballot
Published: June 08, 2026 at
10:00 a.m.
By: Nick Altmire
Lowville, NY- Lewis County
Treasurer Eric Virkler has officially vacated the position, effective May
16, 2026. Deputy Treasurer Taszden Newton has
assumed the role until a new treasurer is elected.
According to the
Lewis County Board of Elections, the position will now be added to the
November ballot for a full four-year term. Due to the
fact that the 2026 election cycle is well underway, the process for
appearing on the ballot is substantially different than the normal process.
In February, we informed our
readers of the upcoming election cycle- including which
local positions were scheduled for election this year and the process for
interested candidates to appear on the ballot. Designating Petitions, used
by candidates seeking to appear on an established political party line (Democratic,
Republican, Conservative, and Working Families parties), were required to
be filed by April 2, 2026. The Primary Election for races with multiple
candidates for the same party is on June 23, 2026. Candidates not seeking a
major party nomination for a position were able to begin circulating
independent petitions on April 14, 2026, with the dates for filing
completed independent petitions being May 19-26, 2026.
On May 15, 2026,
Lewis County Clerk Jake Moser filed a Certificate of County Offices to be
Filled with the Lewis County Board of Elections noting that the office of
Lewis County Treasurer would be vacant effective May 16, 2026, and “
pursuant to
Section 4-106(4) of the New York State Election Law, due to vacancy the
office of LEWIS COUNTY TREASURER term of 4 years may be lawfully voted for
at the General Election to be held November 3, 2026.”
With the 2026
election cycle well underway by this point, there was no opportunity for
interested individuals to pass designating petitions for the major party
nominations for the position. Instead, according to the Lewis County Board
of Elections, county party chairs for each of the major parties will submit
a candidate to represent their party on the November ballot following the
completion of the June 23, 2026 Primary Election date.
On May 18, 2026, it appears that the Lewis County Board of Elections posted
a notice on their webpage that independent petition signatures could be
collected and filed between May 16, 2026 and May
29, 2026 for the Treasurer position. No media notice
was provided to indicate the vacancy had occurred or the addition of the
position to the November ballot from the information originally provided in
February for the Offices to be Filled this year.
One candidate, current
Lewis County Director of Purchasing Brian T. Hanno, filed independent petition
signatures for the Treasurer position and will appear on the November
ballot. We will update once both the Democratic and Republican parties choose
their candidates for the position.
Mr. Virkler was
first elected to the Treasurer position in November of 2019 and was elected
to a second four-year term in November of 2023. His current term began on
January 1, 2024 and was slated to run through
December 31, 2027. Instead of filling the remainder of his term, the November
election will be for a full four-year term- running from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2030. Mr. Virkler, who served
in a variety of government roles throughout his career prior to being elected
Treasurer, indicated during the April 7, 2026
meeting of the Lewis County Board of Legislators that he was reaching
retirement criteria through the New York State Retirement System and would
likely be resigning from the Treasurer role in May.
We are still
looking into the process provided by the Lewis County Board of Elections
for filling vacancies such as this and will update with any developments.
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