Candidate Konst may be shifting to a new target: Volker
Instead of Congress, State Senate looms as possible goal in fall
Democrat Kathy Konst acknowledged late Monday that she is “under heavy pressure” to end her congressional candidacy and run against Republican Dale M. Volker in the 59th District of the State Senate this fall.
However, Konst, a county legislator from Lancaster, said that she has not definitely made up her mind, and that she may have “misspoke” earlier Monday indicating that she had decided to switch gears and launch a campaign against Volker.
“My volunteers are behind me for Congress,” she said, adding that many people were trying to “push me into the Volker seat.”
Konst earlier said that she had made the decision to run for the Volker seat, but then said late Monday that she is only considering it and has not made a decision.
She said earlier in the day that she was approached recently by business leaders who are concerned about the power shift away from upstate. She said since they and she are convinced the Democrats will claim the Senate majority in November, she believes that the time is right to seek the Volker seat.
“I never before thought it appropriate to run against Volker, because in order to get anything for upstate, we had to have seniority,” she said earlier Monday. “But once [Senate Majority Leader Joseph L.] Bruno dropped out, it looks like the Repub-
licans will lose the Senate and whatever influence Dale had will be gone.”
Volker has been considered politically invulnerable for most of the 36 years in which he has served in Albany. But he is already facing a GOP primary challenge from former East Aurora Mayor David J. DiPietro.
Konst, meanwhile, brings some personal ability to finance the campaign, and said she hopes to get support from Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano, a former gubernatorial candidate who in the past has helped Republicans running for the State Senate.
She said she has met with him and expects his support.
“He’s going to try to support candidates who address this upstate agenda,” she said. “If he wants to support me like that, it would be terrific.”
If she decides to challenge Volker, she may encounter some intraparty opposition, however, before her Democratic nomination is sealed. Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan, considered a Konst foe, said Monday that the party will back Elma lawyer Timothy J. Pawarski to face Volker. “Kathy has not asked us for our support,” he said. “Our plan is to support Tim. We’ll see how things develop.”
If she leaves the congressional race, it would reduce the Democratic field to three in the bid to succeed five-term Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence. They are businessman Jack Davis of Clarence, who has run against Reynolds twice; Iraq War veteran and former substitute teacher Jon Powers of Clarence; and lawyer Alice J. Kryzan of Amherst.
It also came on a day when Democrats with the job of expanding their majority in the House designated Powers as a top election priority this year, providing him with a new source of fundraising and clearly signaling that they favor him.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Monday that it has assigned Powers to its “Red to Blue Program,” which in 2006 resulted in an average $404,000 in funding for contending Democrats. While the list now includes 37 Democrats nationwide, the national panel has declared its preference in only six races with primaries.
“Jon Powers has assembled a strong and dynamic campaign with strong grass-roots support, local labor leaders, and all seven Democratic committees,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the committee. “The Red to Blue Program will give Jon the financial and structural edge to be even more competitive.”
Powers called it a “huge development” for his campaign.
“From the beginning, our campaign has focused on bringing the voice of Western New Yorkers back to Washington,” he said.
Powers also buttressed his ties to local labor with appearances in Rochester and Buffalo, where he was joined by labor leaders. In Rochester, he was endorsed by Jim Bertelone, president of the Rochester and Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.
