LOCKPORT — How do you build up a $700,000 campaign war chest, especially when your home district is not in an economically booming area?

If you’re State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, you tap into a base of loyal donors who have been with you for many years.

You use the Albany incumbency culture to your advantage, tapping into a seemingly bottomless pool of political action committees operated by business groups and labor unions.

And it never hurts to have a committee chairmanship in a subject area with a lot of well-heeled corporate interests.

Maziarz hasn’t had a close race since his first victory in his Senate district, a 1995 special election.

The intimidating bank account keeps major Democratic politicians in his three-county territory looking for other career options rather than pursuing the 62nd District Senate seat.

The latest candidate to take Maziarz on is Amy H. Witryol of Lewiston, a first-time political candidate known for her participation in environmental causes.

Asked about Maziarz’s war chest, Witryol said, “I’m not sure I’ve raised enough money to attend the

fundraiser he held in New York City.”

She was referring to a $500-per-ticket event Maziarz hosted in the Penn Club in Manhattan last Sept. 24. The invitation said Maziarz’s guests were to be Sen. Dean Skelos, the leader of the Republican minority, and Sen. Pedro Espada, the leader of the Democratic majority.

The leaders of both parties at a Maziarz fundraiser?

Maziarz was an ally of Espada in the 2009 Senate coup that saw the Republicans temporarily seize control of the Senate even though there are more Democrats than Republicans. Espada and another Democratic senator switched caucuses for a while.

“I invited all of the Senate leadership. It’s a common practice in Albany,” Maziarz said. “Mr. Espada did not attend.”

Espada is currently under state investigation on allegations that he appropriated $14 million from a chain of health clinics he owns in the Bronx for his personal use.

Another common practice in Albany is for big donors to give money to senators of both parties.

Take — as one example out of many—the law firm of Bond Schoeneck & King, which has offices in all the state’s major cities, including Albany and Buffalo.

Board of Elections figures show that since Jan. 1, 2009, the firm passed out $53,293 to 46 different senators.

Maziarz received $500. Sen. Antoine M. Thompson, the Buffalo Democrat who represents Niagara Falls, received $600. Sen. Malcolm A. Smith, the Democratic president of the Senate, got $2,000. Skelos, the Republican leader, scored $2,250.

Other law firms also can be a good source of campaign cash. Phillips Lytle in Buffalo gave Maziarz $5,000. Harris Beach, the firm that employs former county GOP Chairman Henry F. Wojtaszek and many other prominent Niagara County attorneys, gave $1,000.

Harter, Secrest & Emery, a Rochester firm that represents Walmart in its battles over locations for new stores, gave Maziarz $2,000. And Walmart itself came up with $1,000.

Incumbents benefit

Multiply those almost routine types of donations by scores of political action committees run by unions, trade groups and big corporations who hand out cash to incumbents of both parties, and you see how a senator such as Maziarz with 15 years’ experience in Albany could pile up the money.

Maziarz said he needs the money, just to be on the safe side.

In his first race, a 1995 special election, “I ran against a person who was independently wealthy. I’m not going to mention the name on the record. You see more and more of that, and you have to be prepared for it.”

The name he wouldn’t say out loud was Elizabeth C. Hoffman, the former mayor of North Tonawanda, who was an Assembly member when she and Maziarz butted heads in the 1995 special election. Maziarz won a contest which has gone down in local political annals as one of the most bitter ever seen in these parts.

He said another reason to pile up money is the sprawling 62nd District, which covers the western part of Monroe County, all of Orleans County and all of Niagara County except Niagara Falls.

“I don’t think there’s another district in the state, maybe one in the Adirondack region, that’s geographically larger. I have to buy ads in Monroe County papers, Orleans and Niagara papers. I have to do marketing in Rochester and Buffalo,” he said.

Maziarz is regarded as a conservative Republican, but he and most other senior Republicans can count on a steady flow of donations from labor unions whose traditional loyalty is to Democrats.

For example, Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union has become a major power player in Albany, thanks to its representation of thousands of health care workers.

SEIU has passed out $259,600 to senators since the beginning of 2009, and Maziarz received $5,000.

The New York State Laborers gave Maziarz $7,000; the Operating Engineers, $2,250; the New York AFL-CIO, $3,500. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers gave $2,200, and there was $700 from IBEW Local 237 in Niagara Falls. Various Laborers locals around the state gave $1,000, although Maziarz gave back a $900 contribution from Local 91 in Niagara Falls, which has been tied to corruption scandals in the past.

Another way to get money is to hold a key committee appointment. Maziarz has been on the Senate Energy Committee for years. In the coup settlement, he returned to its chairmanship even though control of the Senate went back to the Democrats.

The Buffalo News calculated that Maziarz has received $35,050 since January 2009 from companies or political action committees connected to the production or distribution of energy, some from as far away as New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois.

The largest donor of the lot, totaling $7,500, was AES Corp., whose Somerset power plant received a major tax break from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency.

The IDA’s board is chosen by the Republican-controlled County Legislature, and its chairman, Henry M. Sloma, is a regular Maziarz donor, with $3,000 in the current election cycle.

Apollo Healthcare, a Niagara Falls company owned by Sloma’s son, gave another $3,000.

As is the case for all Albany veterans, businesses large and small are on the Maziarz donor list. Verizon, the communications giant, gave $6,000. Time Warner Cable kicked in $5,000. NTS Data Services, which has a contract for computer services at the Niagara County Board of Elections, gave $3,000.

A collection of entities operated by Modern Corp., the Model City waste disposal firm, collectively gave Maziarz $10,550 in cash in the latest election cycle, and Maziarz confirmed that Modern sponsored a fundraising event for him in a private box at a Buffalo Sabres-Ottawa Senators game in HSBC Arena March 26.

According to Maziarz’s disclosure form, Modern picked up the $3,659 cost for putting on that event. That counts as an “in-kind” contribution.

The limit for individual or single-entity donations to a Senate candidate is $9,500, but donors with more than one legal entity can get around that by dividing up the donations.

For example, Maziarz’s $10,500 from Modern was split up among Modern Disposal, Modern Environmental and Modern Portable Toilets.

A Long Island property management firm, Glenwood Management Corp. of New Hyde Park, became Maziarz’s largest donor through similar means.

Maziarz received three $5,000 checks on the same day, Oct. 9, from three limited liability companies with the same New Hyde Park address: 79th Street Realty, 425 East 72nd, and 1737 York Realty.

The address turns out to be that of Glenwood, whose officials did not return a call seeking comment.

Maziarz was one of 13 senators of both parties to receive donations from at least one of those three Glenwood entities, although he got the most money.

“They probably approve of my record on business,” said Maziarz, who had to check to find out what Glenwood was before calling back a reporter.

Falls connections

Niagara Falls Redevelopment, the private company that bought up land in downtown Niagara Falls but so far hasn’t done much with it, has given Maziarz $8,000 in the current election cycle.

In addition, NFR’s owner, Howard Milstein of New York City, his brother, Edward Milstein, and NFR’s chief executive officer, Anthony Bergamo, donated $2,500 each.

“I think they like some of the things I’m doing, like promoting the [Niagara Falls International] Airport, trying to get casino money spent on projects that will have a return on investment,” Maziarz said. “They wonder, like I do, how the City of Niagara Falls can get all that money from the casino and show no impact, no positive impact on the city.”

Joseph “Smokin’ Joe” Anderson, the Tuscarora Indian Reservation businessman whose fortune was built on selling tax-free cigarettes and gasoline, has long been a Maziarz donor. This election cycle, he gave the maximum $9,500 in one payment.

The Seneca Nation of Indians, whose casino and hotel constitute one of few success stories in downtown Niagara Falls, gave Maziarz $6,000.

Looking at that, along with Anderson’s donations totaling $122,000 to the Niagara County GOP in recent years, Witryol said, “It just may be a coincidence that George thought it would be unfair to tax cigarettes sold by the Seneca Nation.”

Maziarz said, “Smokin’ Joe Anderson has supported me since I was running for Niagara County clerk. I’ve known him for 30 years. I think the Seneca [donation] has more to do with Niagara Falls.”

As for opposing Indian cigarette taxation, Maziarz said, “I’ve been pretty clearly against that all along.”

Nor is Maziarz’s fundraising restricted to high rollers. He sent out a political mailing this spring asking for donations from grassroots Republicans. The results, he said, were gratifying, but it wasn’t really about the money.

“It worked out very well with people volunteering on the campaign. We had to order an extra 1,000 [yard] signs,” he said.

Maziarz said he’d like to see some campaign finance reform. He said he co-sponsored a Republican conference bill on ethics reform in Albany that included reducing the campaign contribution limit to the $1,000 figure used in federal elections.

The bill passed, but Gov. David A. Paterson vetoed it. So the money chase goes on.

Witryol said, “99 percent of the time, when I say, ‘I’m Amy Hope [her middle name] and I’m running to take the money out of politics,’ they nod their heads. They get it.”

“I live by the rules,” Maziarz said, and added later in the interview, “I work hard at it.”