Amid the many town and county political races being contested this fall, there are a number of interesting storylines, namely incumbents who made somewhat surprising decisions to run for re-election.

Among those whose announcement has left some voters scratching their heads:

Sam DeRosa, Ray Lockwood and Steve Netti: These three county legislators are running for re-election, but cannot fulfill the four-year terms if elected. A legislator can only serve 12 years in the legislature beginning in 1995, when the law was approved, and all three men will have exceeded 12 years during the next term in office. If elected, these three incumbents will be forced to relinquish their seats midterm, at which time the legislature - not the voters - will appoint their replacements.

Bill Catto: The Cayuga County legislator representing District 11 in Auburn said that he would only run for one term when he was elected. The Democrat has changed his mind and is now running for re-election in November.

David Farrell: The Cayuga County treasurer underbilled health insurance to the county's towns and villages by $655,000 over three years and was sharply criticized by the state comptroller's audit, which stated ”the practice of under-billing continued long after corrective action should have been taken.“ In addition, Farrell made unauthorized cash transfers from the general fund to cover the deficit, transfers made without the county Legislature's knowledge. Those transfers were made with county taxpayers' money, which include taxpayers in Auburn and other municipalities that do not participate in the county's health insurance consortium.

And as the county and the affected towns are at odds over who will pay for the $655,000 billing error, Farrell announced that he would seek re-election.