Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After 19 years serving in Congress, Rep. Brian Higgins walked to a podium inside the Buffalo History Museum on Sunday morning, saying, "I plan to leave Congress in the first week of February of 2024."
Higgins told reporters Congress was not the same institution he went to serve 19 years ago, citing the recent division in Congress and American politics in general. The Congressman says it will get better, but also predicts politics is at the beginning of a rough patch, not the end.
Higgins, who serves on the House Ways and Means and Budget committees, began his 10th term in January.
"I didn't go to Washington 19 years ago to change the world," Higgins said. "I went there to change my community."
Higgins was surrounded by displays of issues that have been close to his governing in his nearly 20 years on Capitol Hill.
While in Congress, Higgins has been credited with leading efforts to revitalize Buffalo’s waterfront, starting in 2005 when he negotiated funding from the New York Power Authority, which sells hydropower produced with water diverted from Niagara Falls. He is co-chair of the Northern Border Caucus and Bipartisan Cancer Caucus and a member of the Great Lakes Task Force.
As for a disappointment? Higgins pointed to a lack of clarity on the future development of the Central Terminal in Buffalo.
"We took the easy route out, and that's a shame," Higgins said. "When you make infrastructure investments, private investment follows.
“I want to come back to the city and serve this city that I have represented in Washington for the past 19 years,” Higgins said during his announcement at the Buffalo History Museum.
Higgins says he had been fielding offers, but did not know what he would do next. WBEN has been told Higgins will become the top executive at Shea's Buffalo Theatre.
Higgins' departure will set off a feverish pace of political maneuvering, mainly in the Democratic Party as a special election will need to be called to determine a replacement. A primary race would likely follow in June 2024.
When asked by WBEN is he would endorse someone to replace him in Congress, he would not rule it out.
"There'll be plenty of time for that," Higgins said.
Why leave office in the middle of a term and not wait until the end?
"Because this situation got really bad in January," Higgins said. "It get's worse moving forward."
So far, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has indicated he would be interested, at the "appropriate time", in discussing the possibility of replacing Higgins.
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WBEN has been told New York State Sen. Tim Kennedy is the inside favorite for the post among Democrats. And, while he indicated he would want to serve out the term he won re-election to this past week, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told WBEN he would "take a look at" the opportunity if it arose.
Let the political maneuvering begin.
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