Chautauqua County Executive
Republican and Conservative Candidate for New York State Lieutenant Governor
BACKGROUND:
In September 2010, Greg won the Republican Primary for Lieutenant Governor; he has joined the gubernatorial winner of that primary, Carl Paladino, on the Republican ticket. Greg is also the nominee of the Conservative Party for Lieutenant Governor. Both parties have endorsed Greg in their efforts to bring better governance to Albany through job creation, reduced spending and taxes, and upstate investment to grow our business and agribusiness sectors.
Greg came from a family of dairy farmers and was a dairy farmer himself, and has remained a strong proponent of agribusiness issues. He has spent the majority of his adult life as a private practice attorney, to include service as a public defender. He lives with his wife Carrie and their three children in Jamestown, New York.
BIOGRAPHY:
Greg Edwards, 49, was born in Panama, New York in September 1960 to second-generation dairy farmers. Greg was 14 when his parents took over his grandfather’s dairy farm, where the family worked the herd while his father also worked as a small business owner and his mother as a Physical Education teacher.
Greg spent his high school years rising at 4:45am to do chores and help milk the 60 head of cattle. He would then go to school, participate in sports, come home for more chores and then do homework. He graduated Panama High School in 1978 and then went to Allegany College in Pennsylvania. He spent 4 years on the football team (Division III) as a backup linebacker, tackle, and special team’s player. He graduated in 1982 with his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
Upon graduation from college, Greg took a job on the outskirts of Pittsburgh as a sales representative for a steel plant. A year and a half later, he answered the age-old call and returned home to the family farm in Panama, New York. He went to work full time on the farm – milking cows and tending the land.
Greg graduated Toledo Law School in 1986 and was admitted to the New York State bar in 1987. He immediately went to work as an Associate for a small law firm – Erickson, Webb, Scolton – in Jamestown, New York. In 1991, he became a partner at the law firm Lodestro, Cass, Vanstrom and Edwards.
In 2004, the local Republican Party asked Greg to run for County Executive against a two-term incumbent. Greg won election to his first term in 2005, and was re-elected to his second term in 2009, winning 64.9 percent of the votes cast.
Greg is the candidate of both the Republican and Conservative Parties for Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York. He advocates a business-like approach to government, one he will bring to New York State government. As County Executive, he has worked hard to consolidate and reduce government agencies, successfully eliminating two departments while simultaneously increasing services to seniors and Veterans, two of the most underserved constituent groups in Chautauqua County. He has reduced property taxes every year he has been in office. Greg has been married to Carrie Wilson since 1990. They have three children and live in Jamestown, NY.
