The text of Sam Hoyt's speech after winning renomination
Thank you Western New York!
Well I’m glad that’s over!
I will never give up on Buffalo and Grand Island.
And I want to thank the voters of Buffalo and Grand Island for not giving up on me.
I am humbled as never before by this vote of confidence to represent you as your fighter in Albany.
No campaign of mine has ever been tougher.
None darker or dirtier.
None more painful or wrenching.
But we made it through this, and there is no dragon we cannot slay.
There is no good fight I will not join.
And what greater shield do I have to carry into the fight for Western New York than the knowledge that you, the voters, can see through the war-fog of dirty campaigns and choose hope over fear, substance over smear, sweetness over the bitter?
Thank you for saying yes to the future.
Thank you for saying yes to responsible politics and no to the politics of personal destruction.
Thank you for your faith in this flawed man’s ability to still get the job done.
To my supporters I say thanks.
I would be remiss if I did not extend a huge thank you to Chairman Len Lenihan. In the years that Len has been the Chair – and we all remember what it was like in the dark ages under his predecessor – Len has brought the party together in such a cohesive spirit of unity and of great accomplishments. Thank you Len and your great staff – Kathy, Eric, Emily, Jeremy and Carol – for all the hard work you do on my behalf and for everyone in this room.
But to all of you I also must say I am sorry.
A few years back I did something stupid, selfish and wrong that hurt the people I care about the most — most of all my family – Connie, Clayton and Griffin -- the best wife and sons in the world -- but also my friends and my staff and my volunteers. Nearly four years ago I apologized to them for my actions and began a painful but ultimately healing process of rebuilding our personal relationships.
My family and friends would have been perfectly justified in giving up on me.
Instead they taught me something profound about love, compassion and forgiveness. And as a result I am a better man, my family is stronger, and my commitment to give back to them and to our entire community is reinforced.
All of this has been fairly well known for many years, and I thank the many members of the media who have known about it all this time, recognized it to be a personal matter requiring personal space, and gave my family enough space to work it out prior to the campaign.
But I must apologize to my supporters for giving the other side material to use as weapons in their wars against the many fights we have joined on behalf of the real people of Western New York. Yes, the other side distorted the truth about this personal matter, but in the final analysis it was I who gave them something to distort. And I am sorry.
So I thank you for your faith, your support and your endurance.
We’re going to need it as we go forth and fight battles of far greater public importance to:
• Expand quality health care, as we have when we kept Women and Children’s Hospital Open and have continued to fight for its success…
• Expand educational opportunities for the children and families of Western New York as we did when we opened charter schools, provided unprecedented state funding for the Buffalo Schools, and stopped the School Reconstruction Fund from being gutted
• Clean up blighted neighborhoods as we have begun to with the Restore New York program, are continuing with the Land Bank legislation and will build upon when we finally pass meaningful Smart Growth Legislation
• Stop the kind of sexual McCarthyism that vilifies the GBLT community, would deny women’s reproductive rights and reject family planning
• Protect the environment with legislation like the “Bruce S. Kershner old growth forest preservation and protection act” that Governor Paterson signed into law just last week despite opposition from those who would exploit our state’s natural resources for a profit
• Demand accountability in job creation programs like Empire Zones and IDAs to ensure that they actually create jobs and are not simply tools of corporate welfare
• Make our government more open, let more sunshine in, and clean up the kind of dirty politics that, yes, reared its head in this very campaign
Make no mistake. As personal and bitter and ugly as this campaign has been, these are the real issues. These are the unspoken subtexts. These are the causes that I will not shrink from fighting for.
Thank you. Your fighter is back!
THANK YOU’s
Brian Bray
We sent out thousands and thousands of pieces of mail and literature. Brian Bray designed almost all of it, except the stuff from Chicago. He is also the only one in this room that knows the difference between a Mac and a PC.
A Tremendous Campaign team led by Sean Ryan. His nickname is “Dad” and when the chips are down, there is no one, no one, I would rather have in my corner.
The rest of the campaign leadership team, Sean Cooney, Jeremy Toth and Whitney Crispell. These guys are hopefully the future of our Party and our community. We will all be better off if when that future is now. Let me tell you about my campaign staff. Katie Campos, James Thoma, Sean Mikula “Wilson”, and Dan Kotlewski, also known as Dan The Man Levitan, also known as Lippy Carmichael. I don’t even know how we found these four tremendous individuals. I think Sean and James just walked in one day. After tonight I will email their resumes to Barack Obama. These guys can win Ohio.
There were many many many people on the campaign team who put in countless hours. I am going to try to tick them off in no particular order: Mike Pacifico, Marc Panepinto, Brad Hamm, Kirk Laubenstein, Melissa Cummings, Jonathan Rivera, Rebecca Town and Sam Sanders. The first time we had a campaign meeting and this headquarters had these people gathered around, strategizing, mapping out the plan. I knew we were going to win.
I want every one who canvassed for me to give a big shout out. The heart and soul of this campaign was you guys. All of the mail, tv and radio meant nothing compared to you. I hope that the nastiness of this campaign does not scare you away from future grassroots campaigning.
I have to say something about my four colleagues in government Maria Whyte, Mike LoCurto, David Rivera and Catherine Nugent Panepinto. We are all part of this progressive “movement”, grassroots, aggressive and, after tonight, a little bit stronger. I am the old man of the group but together we will change politics and public policy in the City of Buffalo for the better.
I have to thank the entire Labor Community. We do not always agree on every issue, and sometimes we fight it out, but you came through big for me tonight and I will forever be grateful. And I must say something to my friends at NYSUT. We weren’t together on this one. I regret that my continuing dispute with the leader of the BTF spilled over into the larger NYSUT community. I want each member of that union to know that that dispute has never been with you or the membership. That said, I promise that I will work to regain your trust and your support.
And my government staff Sarah JM Kolberg, Mark Hennessy, Jim Cuozzo, Teresa Glanowski, Joe Minetto, Michelle Santoro, and Michelle Sbuttoni. My government staff is second to none in all of New York State. Tonight’s victory is a reflection on them and I thank them.
The Latino Community came through big for me tonight. Led by David Rivera, Chito Olivencia and Wilmer Olivencia. We are now stronger together and going forward, united, we will not be ignored, not by City Hall, not by anyone.
The GBLT community. For 16 years, political advisers told me to low-key my support for the GBLT community; maybe hedge my bets a bit. I never did and I never will. And this year, my campaign could have taken sexual politics and used it to our advantage. We never did and we never will. I want to thank Michael James of Stonewall Democrats, and Tim Moran publisher of Outcome, Bruce Kogan, Kitty Lambert, Todd Plank, Prairie Wells, Johnathan Lang and the Empire State Pride Agenda , and so many others. I know what kind of chance you took this year and I am humbled and honored.
The guys from the Delaware Club Jimmy “Baggs” Baggarozzo, Tommy Agostino and Marc Coppola. As always, your friendship is one of my prized possessions.
I want to thank the downtown team from the Erie County Democratic Party, Kathy Callan, Jeremy Zellner, Erik Wyent and Emily DeNicola. We are still checking the results for committee members but soon we will all be re-electing Len Lenihan for another two years.
I want to thank Peter McMahon, Supervisor of Grand Island. He was with me every step of the way and he is with out a doubt, the best supervisor in all of Erie County.
I simply can’t name every leader throughout the 144th assembly district who stood with me this year. But I have to single out one couple – Peter and Candace Aiello from Riverside.
Last – and most importantly - my Family. Nothing I could say tonight could possibly express the depth of my love and gratitude for Connie, Clayton, Griffin and my entire extended family.
And finally, two more people who I have to mention. I want to thank Steve Pigeon and Steve Casey, you are as incompetent as you are corrupt. See you two next year.
