Kelly Fitzpatrick is a Bath Republican who has represented the Town of Bath on the Steuben County Legislature since 2016 and has chaired the 17-member body since January 2024. WETM and WSKG reported she is the first woman to hold the post. Her seat is not on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot.
So who is Kelly Fitzpatrick, what has she done, and what do her critics say? The record runs through a 2015 primary win, a vice chairmanship, a 9 to 8 win over a fellow Republican chair, a long legal fight with the county sheriff, a state audit of county reserves, and a second term as chair.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Republican (also on the Conservative line)
- Hometown
- Town of Bath area (Savona mailing address), N.Y.
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in sources reviewed
- Current Position
- Chair, Steuben County Legislature; Legislator, District 3 (Town of Bath)
- Background
- Not found in sources reviewed
- In Office Since
- January 2016 (legislator); January 2024 (chair)
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
PagPol could not confirm Fitzpatrick’s date or place of birth, her parents’ names, her education, or her career before public office. No source reviewed named a spouse or children, and PagPol found no record of military service. Her full name is Kelly H. Fitzpatrick, and the county legislators’ roster lists a Savona mailing address.
She represents District 3, which covers the Town of Bath, home of the county’s legislative offices in Bath. A second legislator, Republican Nicholas Pelham, also represents the 3rd District after winning a 2023 primary for an unexpired term. This profile relies on public records, county documents, and local news coverage.
The village park in Savona, the Steuben County village listed as Fitzpatrick’s mailing address. (Photo: ThePessimus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
BATH LEGISLATOR AND VICE CHAIR, 2015 TO 2023
Fitzpatrick entered county politics in 2015. In the Sept. 10 Republican primary for the 3rd District’s four-year seat, she beat Lawrence P. Crossett 376 to 149, about 71.5 percent of the vote, according to official county primary results. PagPol could not find the 2015 or 2019 general election totals.
She took office in January 2016. In January 2021 county lawmakers selected her as vice chair to replace the just-retired Robin Lattimer, a Bath Republican, according to WLEA. She served as the top deputy to Chairman Scott Van Etten, a Caton Republican, for the next three years.
In 2023 the legislature voted to rescind Sheriff Jim Allard’s legal indemnification and to require him to buy up to $3 million in liability insurance, a requirement it soon rescinded. It also created a committee to investigate his office. Allard sued. PagPol could not find how Fitzpatrick voted on those resolutions.
In November 2023 she won a new four-year term without opposition, with 1,047 votes on the Republican line and 158 on the Conservative line, according to the county’s official 2023 results. The same election also returned Democrat Joe Tobia of Corning and Republicans Shannon Logsdon and William Thew as winners.
Liberty Street in downtown Bath, the Steuben County seat and the town Fitzpatrick represents. (Photo: Staib, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
WINNING THE GAVEL, 2024
On Jan. 2, 2024, the legislature elected Fitzpatrick chair over Van Etten. Under the county’s weighted voting system, Resolution 1-1 passed 4,794 to 4,564, according to the county’s resolution record. FingerLakes1 reported the headcount as 9 to 8. James Kuhl of Painted Post became vice chair.
“Actually, I was asked to by a couple of the other legislators,” she said of her run, according to WETM. “We went to lunch in Corning and they thought that it was time for a change in leadership.” She said Van Etten had “a very strict, straightforward, no messing around style.”
“I don’t necessarily believe that’s the only way to resolve problems or to solve situations,” she told WETM. She said the sheriff “was handled far rougher than we have handled other issues in the past” and added, “I would like to reconcile that.” Allard said he “couldn’t be happier” with her election.
On Feb. 16, County Manager Jack Wheeler posted a video attacking Allard. “The video released by county Manager Jack Wheeler is within his authority as director of county operations,” Fitzpatrick said, according to WLEA, adding that the video was not approved by the legislature.
The Soldiers’ Monument in Bath, the village that houses Steuben County’s courthouse and legislative offices. (Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
In April the investigation committee met again, with outside counsel from Phillips Lytle, to review harassment and discrimination complaints in the sheriff’s office. “We need to do this because there have been complaints filed. And we are required by law to follow up on them,” Fitzpatrick said, according to WSKG.
In late November a judge ruled for Allard and restored his indemnification. The judge viewed the yearlong dispute among the sheriff, the legislature, the county manager and the former chair as an act of “bad faith to punish the sheriff,” according to WSKG.
“It’s important for us to understand the cost benefit analysis,” Fitzpatrick said in December, after Allard put his legal costs near $200,000, a figure the county had not confirmed. “So, if you’re spending $200,000, what are we getting out of that?” She said she had asked Wheeler for exact figures.
FLOODS, FEDERAL CUTS AND A BUDGET, 2025
On Jan. 27, 2025, the legislature voted in executive session not to appeal the ruling. The county then filed an appeal anyway. Fitzpatrick said outside counsel advised that because Van Etten, who is named in the lawsuit, wanted to appeal, the county had to defend him, according to WLEA.
In early March Fitzpatrick wrote to President Trump asking for a federal investigation of working conditions in the state prison system. Democrat Tobia said the letter was too opinionated and looked like it came from the full legislature, and Democrat Hilda Lando agreed, according to WLEA.
Lando said Fitzpatrick removed her name from the letterhead when she asked. Fitzpatrick said the only complaints she received came from the two Democrats and that her signature was the only one on the letter. PagPol found no direct quotes from either side on the dispute in local coverage.
Cedar Street at the entrance to downtown Corning. Two of the legislature’s three Democrats, including Tobia and Lando, represent Corning. (Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
In May, after a third year of repeated flooding, she demanded faster state and federal help. “Steuben County is not asking for charity. We’re demanding what’s fair. What’s right. What’s long overdue,” she said in a statement, according to WLEA.
“But this is bigger than any one county. We need the full strength of our state and federal partners, and we need it now,” she said. In June Vice Chair Kuhl won a three-way Republican primary in District 12 with 109 of 205 votes, according to WLEA.
In July, after talks with state auditors, the legislature adopted a reserve fund policy, set a maximum fund balance goal, and created new reserves. In November Democrat Deborah Shannon beat Kuhl in District 12, 615 votes to 515, according to the county’s 2025 results.
On Nov. 14 the county presented a $277 million budget. “The bills are just too expensive and they can’t afford to put good food on the table,” Fitzpatrick said of working families who rely on SNAP and HEAP aid, according to WSKG.
On Nov. 24 the legislature adopted a $276,676,031 budget for 2026, almost $17 million above 2025. The property tax levy rose 1.96 percent, while the average full value tax rate fell 6 percent, the 13th straight annual decline, according to WENY. PagPol could not find the roll call.
A SECOND TERM AS CHAIR, 2026
On Jan. 5, 2026, the legislature reelected Fitzpatrick chair unanimously, two years after her 9 to 8 win, according to WLEA. Jeff Horton became vice chair, Paul VanCaeseele majority leader, and Lando stayed as minority leader. County Clerk Judy Hunter swore in members, including Shannon.
THE COUNTY AND THE PARTY MATH
Steuben had 30,590 active enrolled Republicans and 13,491 Democrats among 62,026 active voters in February 2026, according to state enrollment figures in PagPol’s Data Spine. Another 14,490 active voters belong to no party. By PagPol’s count from county election results, Republicans hold 14 of 17 seats and Democrats three.
Republican share of active enrolled voters, February 2026
Steuben CountyNearby Southern Tier and Finger Lakes counties
Republicans as a share of all active enrolled voters in each county in February 2026. Source: New York State Board of Elections enrollment figures, compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine.
Steuben ranks second in Republican share among the seven nearby counties PagPol compared, behind Allegany at 52.1 percent. Two of its three Democrats, Tobia and Lando, represent Corning’s District 2, and Shannon holds District 12. For another county leader, see PagPol’s profile of Niagara County’s Mike Hill.
LEADERSHIP ROLES
As chair, Fitzpatrick presides over the legislature and introduces organizational resolutions; in 2024 she introduced the measure recognizing the chair’s committee appointment authority, which passed unanimously. The legislature uses weighted voting, with 9,358 total vote units. Compare her with Greene County chair Patrick Linger.
She served as vice chair from 2021 through 2023 before winning the chair. PagPol could not confirm her current standing committee assignments. Colleagues chose her as chair in January 2024 and again in January 2026. Her legislative seat, won without opposition in 2023, carries a four-year term that runs through 2027.
WHY SHE RAN AND WHAT SHE BELIEVES
“I wasn’t afraid of how the vote was going to go, because I had a lot of good ideas for what I thought we could do,” Fitzpatrick said in January 2024, according to WSKG. “I love being a leader.” She told WETM, “We talk about communicating with all 17 legislators.”
Her county website message lists public transportation, high-speed internet, and housing as priorities, along with tourism and downtown business districts. “The opportunity to shine comes from our ability to adapt to an ever-changing world,” she wrote. She has also pressed Albany and Washington for flood aid.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
PagPol could not find a campaign committee for Fitzpatrick in state Board of Elections data, and her 2023 race was uncontested. County races receive no public matching funds. The money story under her chairmanship is the county budget, which grew from $259.7 million in 2025 to $276.7 million in 2026.
Personnel costs of about $100 million make up the largest share of the 2026 plan, with Medicaid at about $20 million, and the county budgeted 933 positions with 130 vacant, WSKG reported. Officials also warned of up to $5 million in lost SNAP administration funding across 2026 and 2027.
Change in county property tax levy, 2021 to 2025
Steuben CountyNearby counties, increaseDecrease
Percent change in each county’s property tax levy from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2025. Steuben’s levy rose another 1.96 percent for 2026 as the average full value rate fell. Source: state property tax data compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine.
Over a longer stretch Steuben has held its levy nearly flat. It rose about 1.1 percent from 2021 to 2025, from $43.5 million to $44.0 million, among the smallest increases of the seven Southern Tier and Finger Lakes counties PagPol compared, according to state figures in PagPol’s Data Spine.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
The sheriff fight drew the sharpest words. In a Dec. 30, 2024 email, Allard rejected the county’s stated reasons for stripping his indemnification, including a jail food contract and his foundation. “All of the stated issues were debunked in a legislative meeting in 2021, in executive session of course,” he told WSKG.
Fitzpatrick cited instances she called substantiated, such as a software contract signed without legislative approval. “We’ve had to backpedal on a couple of things for the sheriff,” she told WSKG. Van Etten defended the effort. “It’s the taxpayers’ money that’s spent on lawsuits,” he said, adding, “This isn’t a power struggle at all.”
Democrats Tobia and Lando criticized her 2025 letter to Trump, while Fitzpatrick noted that only her signature appeared on it. The appeal reversal drew attention after a closed-door vote. PagPol found no ethics complaints, personal lawsuits, or scandals involving Fitzpatrick herself in the sources reviewed.
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Fitzpatrick pledged in 2024 to reconcile with the sheriff. The record is mixed: the investigation continued, a judge ruled against the county that November, and in 2025 the county filed an appeal after first voting not to. She did press for the cost of the litigation, which the county had not confirmed.
Under her chairmanship the 2026 budget kept the levy increase under 2 percent while the average rate fell. A state audit also found the county held $103.4 million in unrestricted general fund balance, or 48 percent of the next year’s budget, at the end of 2024.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE DISTRICT
A Dec. 31, 2025 comptroller fund balance audit, report 2025M-127, found “County officials did not effectively manage the County’s fund balance.” It found $36.6 million in unbudgeted transfers authorized by the legislature from 2021 through 2024, no adequate fund balance policy, and no multiyear plans.
The audit made eight recommendations. County officials generally disagreed but began corrective action, and WLEA reported the county said the audit did not take the pandemic into account. For 2024, the Village of Bath and City of Corning each scored 0.0 on the state fiscal stress scale and Bath Central School District scored 20.0.
LOOKING AHEAD
Fitzpatrick is not on the ballot this November, and her legislative term runs through 2027. The sheriff appeal, the audit’s corrective action plan, federal aid cuts, and the 2027 budget all lie ahead. For more, visit PagPol’s Steuben County page or subscribe to the Steuben County newsletter.
