Andrew Molitor is a former Chautauqua County prosecutor who won the open 150th Assembly District in 2024, succeeding longtime Republican Andy Goodell. The district covers all of Chautauqua County. Now finishing his first term, he faces Democrat Tom Carle, a former county legislator from Fredonia, on Nov. 3, 2026.
So who is Andrew Molitor, what has he done in Albany, and what do his critics say? The record runs through a decade in the district attorney’s office, a 14,000-vote first win, a stack of bills that stalled in committee, a proposed control board for Dunkirk, and a running debate over what a member of the minority can deliver.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Republican (also on the Conservative line)
- Hometown
- Westfield, N.Y.
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in official biographies reviewed
- Current Position
- New York State Assemblymember, 150th District
- Background
- Chautauqua County First Assistant District Attorney
- In Office Since
- January 2025
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Molitor lives in Westfield with his wife, Celia, and their five children, according to his Assembly biography. Celia Molitor also serves as treasurer of his campaign committee, according to state matching funds records. He runs a men’s ministry and teaches as a catechist with the Chautauqua Family of Catholic Churches.
PagPol could not confirm his date or place of birth, his parents, or where he went to college and law school. None of those details appear in his Assembly biography or in the other public profiles PagPol reviewed. PagPol found no record of military service and no elected office before the Assembly.
THE PROSECUTOR YEARS
Before running for office Molitor spent about 10 years as a prosecutor and rose to first assistant district attorney in Chautauqua County, according to WRFA. He also served as president of the Bar Association of Northern Chautauqua, according to his Assembly biography.
That work shaped his politics. “In my job, I see the consequences of some of the dumbest and deadliest laws ever passed,” he said as a candidate in 2024, according to the Post-Journal. He has made the state’s bail and criminal justice changes a central theme ever since.
THE 2024 RACE
When Goodell retired, the county Republican Party recruited Molitor. On Feb. 29, 2024, he announced his campaign, warning of “radical policies coming from downstate,” according to WRFA. In June Rep. Nick Langworthy endorsed him, and Democrat Mike Bobseine picked up a third-party line.
A welcome sign in Westfield, Molitor’s hometown in western Chautauqua County. (Photo: Idawriter, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
In October the two clashed over one-party control of Albany. “They’ve deconstructed the criminal justice system and made it easier for people to commit crimes,” Molitor said, according to the OBSERVER. “As a member of the majority, I can be more influential than just simply complaining and raising that issue,” Bobseine answered.
On Nov. 5, 2024, Molitor won 34,297 to 20,264, about 63 percent of the vote for the two candidates, according to certified 2024 results. “It’s an honor of a lifetime to represent the people of this district,” he told the OBSERVER. He was sworn in on Jan. 1, 2025, at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown.
The Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, where Molitor was sworn in on Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
THE FIRST YEAR, 2025
That winter he joined Republicans opposing the state’s electric school bus mandate and called for reversing a proposed state power authority rate increase. In April he introduced A8019, which would create a state-appointed interim finance authority, a control board, for the financially troubled City of Dunkirk. Sen. George Borrello carries the Senate version.
On April 29 he voted against the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which passed the Assembly 81 to 67. “I cannot support legislation that legalizes the deliberate termination of life under the guise of compassion,” he said in an Assembly statement. In May he voted against both main budget bills, which passed 104 to 46 and 103 to 46.
That May he said three of his bills had been “blocked in committee by the Assembly Majority.” They would have expanded judges’ discretion to set bail for dangerous or repeat offenders, toughened penalties for attacks on first responders, and exempted large inland lakes from wetland rules. “The state’s confusing wetland rules are creating unnecessary burdens for homeowners and local governments,” he said.
THE SECOND YEAR, 2026
“As the new legislative session begins, my focus is on making sure Chautauqua County isn’t left behind,” Molitor said in January, according to an Assembly release. In February and March he introduced local bills on county forest lands and on Mayville money for the North Lake Fire District, both still in committee.
In May he voted against both main 2026 budget bills, which passed 93 to 47 and 91 to 52. That month Carle announced his challenge. On June 5 the Assembly passed Molitor’s bill letting the towns of Ellington and Charlotte elect a single town justice, according to the Senate bill page. It has not passed the Senate.
A view in the Village of Fredonia, home of Molitor’s Democratic challenger, Tom Carle. (Photo: Dougtone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
At a June chamber of commerce event with Borrello he criticized how Albany works. “The bills don’t get read, so very often, you have bills that are really bad bills that get enacted,” he said, according to the Post-Journal. Both parties’ 2026 primaries were canceled because no one challenged the nominees.
THE DISTRICT AND THE PARTY MATH
The 150th District covers all of Chautauqua County, including Jamestown, Dunkirk, and Fredonia. The county had 28,924 active enrolled Republicans and 22,485 Democrats out of 79,724 active voters in February 2026, according to state enrollment figures in PagPol’s Data Spine. More than 22,000 voters belong to no party.
Democrats hold a supermajority in the Assembly, leaving Molitor in a Republican minority that cannot move bills on its own. His 2024 margin of about 26 points was narrower than Goodell’s 2022 margin of about 44 points, when Goodell won 30,993 to 11,908, according to certified state results. For a fellow Western New York freshman, see PagPol’s profile of Paul Bologna.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Molitor sits on the Banks, Children and Families, Codes, Judiciary, and Social Services committees, according to Ballotpedia. A March 2025 press release from his office announced an appointment to a human services committee, which PagPol could not match to a standing Assembly committee. He holds no leadership post.
In the 2025 and 2026 session he was prime sponsor of 48 bills and co-sponsor of 99, according to Assembly sponsor pages compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine. That puts him third among eight Western New York Republican members PagPol compared. None of his bills has been signed into law.
Bills sponsored in 2025 and 2026, Western New York Republican Assembly members
MolitorOther Republican members
Bills each member introduced as prime sponsor in the 2025 and 2026 legislative session. Source: New York State Assembly data, compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
Molitor says he ran because state laws were making communities less safe and life less affordable. “We need to continuously seek ways to reduce the cost of government,” he said in 2024. “One-party rule hasn’t done us any favors,” he told the OBSERVER that October.
He backs rolling back bail changes, repealing the Scaffold Law, banning ballot harvesting, and limiting the governor’s emergency powers, according to his bill list. “With respectful conversation and respectful argument you can do a lot of good,” he said in 2024, describing how he hoped to work in a Democratic Albany.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Molitor’s campaign has received $109,188 in public matching funds in 2026, in five payments from June 30 through Oct. 13, according to PagPol’s tally of the state Public Campaign Finance Board’s distribution reports. Carle did not appear in any 2026 report PagPol checked.
Molitor's 2026 public matching fund payments
Largest paymentLater payments
Each public matching fund payment to Molitor’s campaign in 2026, totaling $109,188 through Oct. 13. His opponent, Tom Carle, did not appear in any 2026 report PagPol checked. Source: New York State Public Campaign Finance Board.
In 2024 the money ran the other way. As of July 31 that year Bobseine was eligible for $109,530 in matching funds while Molitor had yet to qualify, according to the Post-Journal. PagPol could not retrieve his fundraising totals, cash on hand, or top donors from state Board of Elections filings.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
PagPol found no ethics complaints, lawsuits, or scandals involving Molitor. The main criticism is that a minority member cannot deliver. Carle has said that “those representing our region, including my opponent, are just not up to the task,” according to the Post-Journal.
Carle says his “alignment with the state majority” would let him do more for the county. Molitor’s bill list also includes measures letting 11-year-olds possess a rifle in certain circumstances and creating a Dunkirk control board. PagPol found no public reaction from Dunkirk officials.
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Molitor promised to fight the bail laws and protect Chautauqua Lake from wetland rules. He introduced bills on both, and both were held in committee, according to his office. His promise that the county will not be “left behind” rests so far on local bills, only one of which has passed the Assembly.
In nearly two years, no Molitor bill has become law, the core of his critics’ argument. But his 48 prime-sponsored bills exceed most of his Western New York Republican colleagues, and his votes against the budgets match his party. For the Senate minority’s view, see PagPol’s profile of Rob Ortt.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE DISTRICT
A July 2025 comptroller Southwestern claims audit found 230 of 266 sampled claims at the Southwestern Central School District, worth $6.5 million, lacked adequate support. A December 2025 audit found the Ashville Fire District could not show it followed bidding rules on two fire trucks costing $796,200.
A May 2026 comptroller Fredonia audit found the Village of Fredonia’s budgets were not structurally balanced and its finances had deteriorated since 2019. An August 2026 audit found the Village of Cassadaga lacked a full inventory of its computer equipment.
LOOKING AHEAD
Molitor faces Carle, running on the Democratic and Working Families lines, on Nov. 3, 2026. Carle, a former county legislator from Fredonia, is running on the argument that a member of the majority can deliver more. PagPol found no public polling. For more, visit PagPol’s Chautauqua County page or subscribe to the Chautauqua County newsletter.
