Hoyt for Assembly
Record of service on behalf of Buffalo should factor into voters’ decisions
Democratic Party voters in the Buffalo Assembly district now represented by veteran lawmaker Sam Hoyt have a difficult decision to make in Tuesday’s primary, and it has not been made any easier by a last-minute influx of ads supported by a high-sounding independent organization — an organization with eyebrow-raising ties to a political influence committee co-directed by an old political enemy of the assemblyman. This race has become a mess. Our recommendation — stay with Hoyt.
Beyond Hoyt’s deplorable personal conduct, there remains a solid record of service to Buffalo and of strong efforts to pass legislation of benefit to this region. Character is a key issue, but it is even more critical to choose candidates who can champion and accomplish important things for their districts, and Hoyt has proven he can do that for Buffalo.
What he faces this time is a classic smear campaign — although one for which he, through extramarital affairs in Albany, has provided the ammunition.
A group calling itself Mothers and Fathers Demanding Answers is assailing Hoyt for those affairs, in part by using a bulk mail permit issued to Responsible New York — an “independent unauthorized committee” managed by former Erie County Democratic Party chairman G. Steven Pigeon, an old Hoyt political foe. Responsible New York has been funded by B. Thomas Golisano to champion reforms he sees as desperately needed, and Golisano is also a leading financial contributor to Hoyt’s primary opponent, Barbra Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh and Responsible New York leaders consistently maintain that there is no coordination between the groups and the Kavanaugh campaign, and there is no evidence that legal line has been crossed. Kavanaugh stands apart from this fray.
But although she may benefit from Hoyt’s character transgressions, she cannot claim the same level of legislative experience as the 16-year assemblyman — or, more importantly, his work on needed legislation.
The two differ sharply on charter schools, which Hoyt supports and Kavanaugh now opposes. We agree strongly that charter schools are necessary to improving education in New York. Hoyt and Kavanaugh also disagree about the way New York needs to respond to its current fiscal crisis, with Kavanaugh wanting to rule some areas of state spending off-limits and Hoyt contending that cuts have to be done carefully but everything should be on the table. Hoyt’s right.
Beyond that, Hoyt helped lead the way to a compromise that spared the next phase of the city’s critically important school reconstruction project from funding elimination, and has championed an essential rehabilitation tax credit program that could help stop housing deterioration and revitalize neighborhoods. He also has championed the Greenway, help for the homeless, and redevelopment efforts here. While this page has not always agreed with him, it is especially clear — and especially ironic — that he is now finishing the most productive term of his Assembly career.
The Buffalo News had not intended to endorse in this race, and indeed does so now without the customary direct interviews with the candidates, although we have met with both on other occasions. Both offer strengths well worth considering, in a primary that should also prove decisive in this heavily Democratic district in November. But voters’ considerations should be free of the last-minute vitriol now unleashed upon this campaign. There is a serious issue of character in this race, but there are also more important considerations of policy and experience. On balance, Hoyt still seems the better choice.
