ERIE COUNTY COMPTROLLER

Poloncarz, Kadet locked in tight race

Early returns show both with 48% of vote

Story tools:

• Larger
• Smaller
• Save
• Print
• Email
• Get Alerts
• Newsletters ^NEW

More Photos

Share this story:

Mark C. Poloncarz was locked in a tight race for a second four-year term as Erie County comptroller on Tuesday.

Poloncarz, a Democrat living in Buffalo, was taking 48 percent of the vote in early returns.

His main opponent, East Aurora Republican Philip C. Kadet, was collecting 48 percent.

Minor party candidate Michael J. Abramo was taking 3 to 4 percent.

If Poloncarz does win reelection, it would be a rebuff to County Executive Chris Collins, whose team largely fueled the Kadet campaign in a effort to turn Poloncarz out of office.

With a victory, Poloncarz in coming years can turn up the volume on audits and reviews that might criticize Collins, and his name will remain in play as a potential candidate for county executive in 2011.

Collins had always rejected the idea that he wanted Poloncarz defeated as a way to knock out a rival for his office. Collins instead has explained that he sees political motives in every Poloncarz move and finds him in his way on several fronts.

“The comptroller has not worked well with me,” Collins complained late in 2008.

But Kadet, a retired accounting executive, was polling strong in early returns. Kadet had spent about $160,000 by Oct. 23, when his most recent campaign report was due at the state Board of Elections. But he brought in about $100,000 in the days leading up to the election, including $50,000 tapped from his personal fortune.

By contrast, Poloncarz had spent about $65,000 this year before the same reporting deadline.

Kadet’s effort was hamstrung by electioneering. Kadet had wanted to add his name on the ballot’s valuable Independence Party line. But he narrowly lost the Independence Party primary in September to Abramo, an Independence Party member.

Abramo ran largely as a spoiler. He did not want party leaders at the state level to designate Kadet as their candidate over the wishes of the Independence Party Committee in Erie County.

The state’s Independence Party leaders have told Erie County that they will control the party’s endorsements and seek advice from billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, a party founder, and his political adviser, G. Steven Pigeon. That meant the state organization’s endorsement would not go to Poloncarz, a Democrat aligned with Democratic Party headquarters.

mspina@buffnews.com

Newsletters

Sign up now for daily and weekly newsletters from BuffaloNews.com and get quick links to the info you want delivered directly to your inbox.

Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment

MyBuffalo user:

Password:

Log In

Forgot your password?

What is MyBuffalo?
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.