With all the snow and cold we now know how hardy the base of voters is in the state Senate’s 61st District. The turnout, as expected, was low, but Jeremy Zellner’s win was solid. Here are the vote totals with all but two of the 128 Election Districts reporting as of midnight: Zellner, Democrat – 18,752 votes; 60 percent of the total votes cast…

The weather has been brutal as of late. The end of the Bills’ season was also brutal. Topping it all off was that strange press conference with Terry Pegula and Brandon Beane. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets: With Kansas City, Baltimore, and Cincinnati removed from the playoffs it should have gone better, even with all games on the road.

There are many ways to evaluate a candidate and his or her opportunities to be elected. Things like public identity, their stand on issues, the relevance of their party endorsements, campaign staff, and the resources they have available to run the campaign all play a part. Ability to raise funds, how they spend their money, and how much cash-on-hand they have is critically important in an age where earned media is hard to come by and a candidate must buy mailers and electronic media spots.

It’s big, really big. And growing bigger all the time. Betting has been available in New York State for a long time. The bingo games that grandma enjoyed so much seem like a hundred-years-ago thing. Grandma and a whole lot of other people have a whole lot of other options today. There is, of course, the lottery. In the most recent year with numbers available, 2024-2025, $10.3 billion in tickets were sold.

Happy New Year! So what better way to kick off the new year than with a special election! The race is on in state Senate District 61. Mayor Sean Ryan’s resignation from the seat on December 31st led to Governor Kathy Hochul’s January 2nd announcement that the special election will be held in just four weeks, February 3rd. Early voting begins on January 24th.

Tonight’s headlines: Stefanik drops out of the race for governor; will leave Congress I originally published this post on July 29, 2025. The post concludes with a brief review of Blakeman’s record as Nassau County Executive. Funny how things work out sometimes. We now have less than 100 days to go until Election Day 2025. Mayoral races are featured in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and New York City.

As we near the calendar flipping to 2026 a great deal of political attention will be focusing on the race for governor of New York.  There are potential primaries on the horizon for the Democrats and the Republicans, but party leaders expect when all is said and done that the November election ballot will present voters with a contest between Kathy Hochul and Elise Stefanik.

Starring Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Special guest appearances by Donald J. Trump and Mike Johnson. Cameos: Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Anna Luna. Make some popcorn and enjoy the show. The story begins with Ms. Stefanik as a young woman, the daughter of a wealthy family. As such she is admitted to, attends, and graduates from top-of-the-line Harvard University.

Decembers are usually a quiet period in local politics. But quiet does not mean that nothing important is happening. Buffalo Mayor-Elect Sean Ryan’s Transition Committee is actively engaged in recruiting his City Hall Team. This will be first transformation of the management of city government in twenty years and there is much work to be done. By City Charter the Mayor must submit his proposed 2026-2027 budget to the Common Council by April 8, which is 100 days after he takes office.

Thanksgiving preparations are underway, the 2026 elections are shifting into gear, and the Bills are wondering if they might not make the playoffs. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets: There seems to be some problems in MAGAland. Affordability and the cost of groceries, inflation, rising medical and other insurance costs, threats to SNAP coverage, etc. And lest we forget: the Epstein files – what will actually be released?

Except for a race or two here and there that is still too close to call, the 2025 elections will soon be certified. On to some very serious and important politicking in New York State. All four statewide offices – governor, lt. governor, attorney general and comptroller – will be on the ballot. For the first time in recent memory, candidates for governor and lt.

The headline of this post is an old saw that at least anecdotally is truer than not. How the Town of Cheektowaga votes often lays out a pattern that is duplicated countywide, statewide, and nationally. Here are just some recent examples: 2020 – Joe Biden carries the town 54-46 percent over Donald Trump. 2022 – Kathy Hochul wins the town 51-49 percent over Lee Zeldin.

Sometimes election nights can be long and suspenseful. It was not that way last night. Democrats won big in Erie County. Following up on his big win in the June Democratic primary, State Senator Sean Ryan coasted to a landslide victory in his campaign for mayor of Buffalo. Here are the numbers: Ryan (Democrat, Working Families): 29,838 votes; 72 percent of the total turnout…

One week to go in a relatively quite election season. And with the new state law moving most odd-year elections to even-numbered years this is sort of the end of a long tradition. The major local race on the ballot this year is for mayor of Buffalo. All three candidates – Democratic and Working Families candidate Sean Ryan; Republican and Conservative candidate James Gardner; and independent candidate Michael Gainer – have by all reports been working hard speaking with voters.

The government may be shut down but Western New York’s representatives in Congress have been busy raising money for their campaign treasuries. Federal Election Commission financial reports were released on October 15th. Leading WNY House members and the senators in the most recent quarterly reports is Representative Tim Kennedy. In the quarter ending September 30th Kennedy raised $359,781. That amount exceeds the quarterly take for Representatives Nick Langworthy and Claudia Tenney as well as Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand.

Today’s post is written by Politics and Other Stuff editor Paul Fisk The MAGA wrecking ball approach to governance is inflicting incalculable harm on our nation, with more of it cynically timed to not take full effect until after the 2026 election. Blue states like New York are being hit particularly hard. Already enacted federal actions will dramatically increase health care costs and could eliminate insurance for 1.5 million New Yorkers.

We are down to the last four weeks of election 2025. Candidates for office this November 4th were required to file financial reports with the state Board of Elections on October 3rd. Here are the highlights (R = Raised; S = Spent; C = Cash on hand): Mayor of Buffalo Democratic and Working Families candidate Sean Ryan: R- $183,306; S - $146,584; C - $60,201…

Sometimes, with the best of intentions, and some significant support, and some money to complete a project, nothing happens. Think about a parallel bridge to the Peace Bridge in days gone by. Think about the Kensington project. The Kensington project, circa 21st century, had its origins more than 60 years ago when, with a very busy downtown and the outmigration of Buffalonians, it was determined that a quick route was needed to move traffic towards and out of downtown Buffalo.

As a participant and observer of government and politics my whole adult life I have worked with, fought with, and enjoyed the company of folks who are collectively called journalists. They work for newspapers, television, and radio. There are fewer of them now and their role has been changing significantly. At the beginning of my working life I was employed at the Erie County Legislature.

Election Day 2025 is just seven weeks away. As election seasons go political activity in Western New York has been relatively quiet. There are several judgeships on the ballot but pay no attention – they are all uncontested. There are elections for Erie County Sheriff and Erie County Comptroller. There is no ballot alternative for incumbent Sheriff John Garcia. Incumbent County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick has done a good job.

The Bills lead the entire Eastern Division. WHAT A WIN OVER THE BALTIMORE RAVENS! Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets: After falling out of sight for several days, Donald Trump emerged from his shelter and predicted 40 more months of chaos. Like Communist China, the Trump administration is beginning the process of taking a financial interest in private companies, starting with the American technology company Intel.

It has been nice to have the Buffalo Bills riding high the past several years. Sure there has been no Super Bowl appearance but the seasons have been exciting with two AFC championship games. The ultimate prize has remained just out a reach. There have been no “wide rights” but the league has changed the rules a couple times after the Bills’ season ending losses: one providing for both teams to have possession in overtime, and the other to add precision to the spot of the ball.

The protracted efforts of the Diocese of Buffalo to merge and close parishes while simultaneously assessing the parishes to raise money for the settlement of abuse claims are running on parallel tracks. Neither of those tracks, however, is a road to renewal. The mergers and closing, the Diocese has said, are a necessity created by lower attendance at religious activities as well as the shrinking number of priests who are available to say mass.

State legislation approved in June would create a new 15th Judicial District in Western New York while assigning state Supreme Court Justices to either the existing 8th Judicial District or the newly established Judicial District. The legislation has not yet been sent to Governor Kathy Hochul for her consideration. The new law provides that the 8th Judicial District will only include Erie County.

The City of Buffalo is just over a month into the new fiscal year. Already there is some not totally unexpected bad news coming from City Hall. Geoff Kelly of Investigative Post reported last week on overtime spending for the Police Department ( The article noted that July PD overtime exceeded what was spent in July 2024. Several months ago acting Mayor Chris Scanlon’s administration said that they were taking steps to bring down the use of overtime.

The State of New York in 2020 enacted a program to provide state taxpayer matching funds for certain donations to statewide and legislative candidates. The general purpose was to “level the playing field” by helping new or low resource candidates to compete with incumbents and well-funded opponents. The program became operational in 2024. A total of 285 legislative candidates originally signed up to participate.

We now have less than 100 days to go until Election Day 2025. Mayoral races are featured in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and New York City. Locally, dozens of town races are uncontested. The major contest is for supervisor in the Town of Amherst. It is not too early, however, to turn to the statewide offices that will be on the ballot in November 2026.

For several months now local residents have been following a news story about a series of vehicle accidents involving Erie County Sheriff Department’s Chief of Narcotics, D.J. Granville. Kudos to the local TV stations, particularly WGRZ-TV, and Investigative Post and the Buffalo News. The basic information that has been reported is that Sheriff Department Chief Granville on the evening of April 11, 2024, was driving an Erie County-owned pickup truck assigned to him which apparently allowed him take home privileges due to the nature of his work.

All political committees in the state, including candidates in the recent primary elections, were required to file their financial reports on July 15th. Here is a summary of some key candidate committees. Money raised since January 11th, or in the case of candidates in a primary this year, since June 9th is indicated as “R”; money spent over the same time frames is indicated as “S”; cash-on-hand as of July 11 is indicated as “C.”

The heat is on, local politics seem to be on vacation at the moment, and the Bills training camp opens this week. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets concerning federal, state and local government and politics: The mega-maga legislation is in the books.  Donald Trump and the congressional Republicans are sure clever, having loaded the tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires up front for an almost immediate payoff while reserving the painful cuts in health care, nutrition assistance, education, and other real-life help until after the November 2026 elections. 

The State of New York’s annual budget, enacted in May, totals $254 billion. The Governor proposes, the Legislature amends and approves, and the Governor signs or vetoes. In between all of those steps sits a multi-million dollars industry, lobbying. The state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) in June issued their annual report on state and local lobbying activities for the year 2024.

Following a very active primary campaign that at one time saw nine potential Democratic candidates, the November ballot for mayor of Buffalo is set (or is it?) with Sean Ryan as the Democratic and Working Families parties candidate; James Gardner, the Republican and Conservative candidate; and independent candidate Michael Gainer. The party forums, petitioning, fundraising, debates, early voting, and then the real thing, primary day, consumed more than six months.

In a campaign that was the most expensive primary race ever in Buffalo, State Senator Sean Ryan defeated acting Mayor Chris Scanlon on Tuesday.   The victory margin was nearly 3,000 votes.  The other three candidates trailed far behind.  Here is the summary with all districts reporting: Sean Ryan – 12,249 votes – 46 percent of total vote Chris Scanlon – 9,278 votes – 35 percent…

The name of this blog is Politics and Other Stuff. Posts are usually on one subject or the other, but today’s post merges the two. Politics and money impact both candidate politics and Church politics. First, the Church. The Buffalo Catholic Church has been struggling for many years with the damage that sexual abuse and harassment by some members of the clergy has had on the Diocese.

The primary elections are down to the last two weeks. Early voting starts on Saturday, June 14. For the candidates and their teams it’s all hands-on deck for the final push. TV ads, mailers, door-to-door canvassing, and phoning will be non-stop. At this stage the candidates will be hunting for votes where they see their best opportunities. Those opportunities need to be targeted.

We are heading into the final stretch before Primary Election Day 2025. There are also a few things happening on the national scene that could have a major impact on state and local governments. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets concerning federal, state, and local government and politics: The Republican majority in the House of Representatives recently enacted their “big, beautiful bill” which is designed to make the rich much richer. 

The Buffalo Common Council on May 27th adopted the 2025-2026 city budget, totaling $622.1 million. The Council presented some important policy matters but the actual approved spending plan mostly agrees with the budget proposed by acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. Seventeen budget lines, out of the hundreds included in the annual budget, were amended including $1.3 million in line-item cuts and an equal amount in line-item additions.

Candidates in the June 24th primary elections were required to file campaign financial information with the state Board of Elections by May 23rd for transactions through May 19th. While there are several contested primaries among the parties in Erie County, major attention remains on the Democratic race for mayor of Buffalo. The financial reports suggest that while there will be five names on the ballot, acting Mayor Chris Scanlon and State Senator Sean Ryan are far outpacing the resources of Garnell Whitfield, Raysheed Wyatt, and Anthony Tyson Thompson.

By its very nature, the race for mayor of Buffalo always highlights primary election activity in Erie County. The city’s population, the wide variety of issues, and the city’s financial woes dominate media interest. That is what is happening in 2025. TV ads, phone calls, and mailers are directing the public’s attention. Aside from the Democratic mayoral primary, however, things are relatively quiet in Erie County.

It’s finally beginning to look like spring. Political TV ads are appearing. Independent petitions are on the streets. There are just six weeks to go until primary day in Buffalo and Amherst; just over a month until early voting starts (June 14th). Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets: An American Pope, Leo XIV!  How about that!  He knows his way around the Church and around the world. 

Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon and Senator Sean Ryan are really mixing it up about competing plans to resolve the city’s impending financial crisis. As it turns out both plans involve borrowing money. Scanlon has proposed selling the city’s parking ramps for cash to help fill the city’s budget holes. The plan is not very well defined. The projected proceeds to the city from the sale have ranged from $40 million to $60 million with the city most recently, without any financial backup, setting the number at $42.2 million.

The petitioning process is nearly over and November election line-ups for many offices in Erie County are nearly set. There is still, however, some sorting out to do. The major race is for mayor of Buffalo with all six Democrats submitting sufficient signatures to qualify for the June 24th ballot. Originally five of the six candidates had general objections filed against their petitions.

“[T]he mayor shall prepare and submit to the authority a four-year financial plan, and the mayor’s proposed city budget, not later than the date required for submission of such budget to the council pursuant to the city charter… “Such financial plan shall… contain actions sufficient to ensure with respect to the major operating funds for each fiscal year of the plan that annual aggregate operating expenses for such fiscal year shall not exceed annual aggregate operating revenues for such fiscal year.” …

Buffalo’s acting Mayor Chris Scanlon has offered the same sort of budget that his predecessor produced year after year – and that Scanlon, as a member of the Common Council agreed to. The proposed new budget seeks to fill what Scanlon describes as a $70 million structural deficit which he “inherited” from the previous administration. A large portion of that deficit will be addressed with a huge non-recurring source of funds and some other uncertain actions.

It is not unusual for a government’s chief executive to leak or directly announce some highlights about the next budget they will be presenting. Usually the tidbits are to show some positive plans and initiatives. Buffalo Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon has taken a somewhat different approach as he heads toward the official April 8 release of his 2025-2026 budget. Thus far Scanlon has indicated that he will include the following in the budget (with some analyses offered):

A county legislative investigation is underway into an incident last April involving the Erie County Sheriff's Chief of Narcotics, who is accused of hitting several parked vehicles on two different streets on Buffalo's West Side. Daniel "D.J." Granville was never charged with anything but paid a $150 fine for jaywalking. Erie County is paying about $60,000 in damage claims. We know about all of this because of the yeoman’s work of Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly; WGRZ’s Charlie Specht; and WKBW-TV’s Kristen Mirand.  Sandra Tan of the Buffalo News…

“It is hereby found and declared that the city is in a state of fiscal crisis, and that the welfare of the inhabitants of the city is seriously threatened. The city budget must be balanced and economic recovery enhanced.” -- NYS Public Authorities Law, 2003 A consensus exists in Buffalo City Hall. The acting mayor, members of the Common Council, and the City Comptroller all agree the city’s budgetary problems have reached a crisis stage. What to do about the crisis is the $40-60 million question. The Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority (aka BFSA, the Control Board) is a state government agency established to oversee the finances of Buffalo.

Amid the chaos and confusion that is Washington these days the country and world are trying to adjust to the rollercoaster politics of the Musk/Trump White House. Insiders say that that was their plan from the get-go. Lost in the craziness are some signals and warnings that raise questions. Here are a few examples: As a heart-healthy warning, you may want to avoid looking at your investment statements for a while.  The stock market is whip lashing most every day like one of those inflated greeting sign figures at a secondhand store.

Ah, March. St. Patrick’s Day is just two weeks away, marking the unofficial end of winter. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets: Chaos and confusion reign in Washington. The clown cabinet is primed for all sorts of damage and screwups negatively affecting millions of Americans – all for the sake of making billionaires and millionaires even richer. Congressman Nick Langworthy’s recent newsletter included a quick poll: are you in favor of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. No need to wait for the results: everyone responding to the poll said YES!