Erie County Legislature
GOP picks up 3 seats on County Legislature
Democrats still in charge, but Collins strengthened
Republicans picked off three of the Erie County Legislature's Democratic seats in Tuesday's elections, significantly strengthening their influence on the local scene and handing a major victory to GOP County Executive Chris Collins.
Republican candidates Lynne Dixon in District 12, Kevin R. Hardwick in District 10 and Dino J. Fudoli in District 5 all defeated incumbent Democrats, instantly doubling the GOP presence in the 15-member Legislature from three to six.
Republican challenger Shelly D. Schratz was narrowly trailing incumbent Democrat Thomas A. Loughran in District 14 and had not yet conceded early this morning.
While Collins narrowly lost his bid to replace Democratic nemesis Mark C. Poloncarz — the Democratic county comptroller — with Republican Philip C. Kadet, he and Erie County Republican Chairman James P. Domagalski were claiming major bragging rights for a party that had suffered its share of losses in recent years and is drastically outnumbered by Democrats.
"Two years ago, we began a historic effort to return control of county government to everyday taxpayers," Collins said. "Tonight, voters have sent a message in strong support of our agenda, when they elected three new members of the County Legislature.
Election Night 2009 Roundup
"We have delivered on our promise to the taxpayers of this community, and I look forward to working with a Legislature that is focused on protecting taxpayers and not the special interests," he added.
The GOP's most impressive legislative victory centered around Tonawanda-based District 10, where Hardwick, a Canisius College political science professor, overwhelmed incumbent Democrat Michele M. Iannello, 62 to 38 percent. That translated into a vote total of 6,236 to 3,873 with 80 percent of the vote counted.
Hardwick was recruited by the county executive after two previous attempts to win the seat against former Legislator Charles M. Swanick proved unsuccessful. But even without raising lots of money on his own, Hardwick turned in the most impressive showing of the night.
He noted his third try at the Legislature proved a "charm" that was "eight years in the making."
And he was among those who credited Collins with helping to coordinate the victory.
"I think the fact we had a united Republican Party didn't hurt," he said. "The popular County Executive Chris Collins was important."
Hardwick noted that the last-minute controversy enveloping Iannello over her alleged objection to the use of black Working Families Party volunteers in her predominantly white district helped his cause.
"I think it enhanced our win, no question about it," he said. "But our polls had us up significantly before that."
Iannello wouldn't say much about what factors she believes led to her defeat.
"You can surmise a lot of different things in this race," she said. "But the bottom line is I didn't get enough votes, and I think I'll just leave it at that."
She said she was elected to the Legislature on a "platform of reform" and believes she made a difference.
Another major Republican triumph came in District 12 in Hamburg, where Dixon — an Independence Party member running on the Republican line — easily turned out Democratic incumbent Robert B. Reynolds Jr., 60 to 40 percent, or 7,386 to 4,996 with 79 percent of the vote counted. She also identified with Collins and capitalized on her name recognition after years of appearing on television as a reporter for WGRZ-TV, Channel 2.
"Coming at it from the other side of the camera, you don't know what a campaign entails," she said late Tuesday. "I want to thank Bob for a hard-fought campaign, I enjoyed that part of it.
"I hope there's a more bipartisan effort going forward in the Legislature," she added.
And in Lancaster-based District 5, Republican businessman Fudoli marked another GOP victory that the party fretted over after initially believing it ranked as an easy win. Fudoli was thought to be ready to win the seat after former Democratic Legislator Kathy Konst resigned to become commissioner of environment and planning in the Collins administration.
But after weeks of legal wrangling, the Democrats successfully inserted Diane M. Terranova into the seat and onto Tuesday's ballot. But Fudoli easily prevailed by 45 to 36 percent, while Konst still tallied 20 percent on the Independence line.
One of the few bright spots for Democrats showed in District 9, where West Seneca Councilwoman Christina W. Bove defeated Republican Brian D. Wirth and incumbent Timothy M. Wroblewski on the Conservative line. Bove tallied 41 percent to 38 percent for Wirth and 21 percent for Wroblewski, who lost to Bove in September in the Democratic primary.
The totals were based on 75 percent of the vote counted.
Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan tried to make the best of his party's setbacks by noting their "perspective."
Never in Erie County history have Democrats enjoyed the "super majority" they currently have in the Legislature, he said.
"I was in the County Legislature 20 years. The biggest majority I was ever part of was three," he said.
The Election Night losses still leave Democrats with control of the Legislature, he noted.
Still, Republicans were thinking early this morning about "what could have been." They narrowly lost with Wirth — a seat that had offered only dark horse hopes. They also were trailing as another Collins priority — Amherst Council Member Schratz — was trailing Democratic incumbent Loughran in Amherst's District 14 by a 51 to 49 percent with 76 percent of the vote counted.
Several seats automatically remained in the Democratic column, since no Republican emerged to challenge the entrenched incumbents. That meant that Legislators Timothy M. Kennedy of District 2, Barbara Miller-Williams of District 3, Maria R. Whyte of District 6 and Betty Jean Grant of District 7 — all of Buffalo — won re-election.
Also guaranteed re-election was Republican Legislator John J. Mills of Orchard Park, who faced no Democratic opponent.
Returns in other districts also showed no real surprises. In Clarence's District 4, Republican incumbent Raymond W. Walter was leading Democratic challenger Justin M. Rooney, 65 to 35 percent with 81 percent of the vote counted.
In Cheektowaga-based District 8, veteran Democratic incumbent Thomas J. Mazur beat Republican Ted B. Morton by a 60 to 40 percent tally.
Republican Kevin P. Curtin waged an intensive effort in District 11, which covers North Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda, but Democrat Lynn M. Marinelli — the Legislature's longest serving member and its chairwoman — prevailed as expected. She was leading 66 to 34 percent with 94 percent of the vote counted.
In Amherst's District 15, incumbent Republican Edward A. Rath III was handily leading Democrat Francina J. Spoth by a tally of 60 to 40 percent with 82 percent of the vote counted.
And in District 1, based in Lackawanna, Democrat Daniel M. Kozub was leading by a healthy margin over Republican challenger Vincent M. Tobia Sr., 64 to 36 percent with 90 percent counted, or 5,337 to 2,983.
It all amounted to a major Republican effort to fortify the party's presence in County Hall. And that also produced a Democratic counterattack, in which several incumbents were working hard to maintain what they were calling a "checks and balances" force against Collins.
But even the guaranteed re-election of four Democrats proved part of a larger Republican strategy. Though Republicans say their failure to field legislative candidates — and especially the absence of a GOP candidate for mayor — stemmed from the "reality" of being grossly outnumbered in those areas, Democratic critics said they were really attempting to suppress votes in heavily Democratic Buffalo.
As a result, just about all political observers said the success or failure of the Collins effort to strengthen the Republican presence in County Hall hinged on suburban voters.
"There's no doubt it's calculated," Lenihan said last week. "It's a time honored strategy to keep the vote down so their countywide candidates have a shot at winning.
"Not to be able to find one human being to run for mayor of the City of Buffalo is a pretty odd situation," he added.
But Domagalski, his Republican counterpart, countered that by pointing to the presence of Republican legislative candidates like Morton against Democratic incumbent Mazur in a Democratic stronghold like Cheektowaga, and Curtin in North Buffalo against Democratic incumbent Marinelli.
And Democrats, he said, have not fielded many candidates in a GOP bastion like Clarence.
"There's no effort to suppress; no master plan," Domagalski said. "If we wanted to suppress Democratic votes countywide, we would have given Marinelli and Mazur a pass."
News Staff Reporters Brian Meyer and Jay Rey contributed to this report.
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