BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - The lawmaking body of Erie County will remain in control of democrats by a 7-to-4 margin following Election 2019.
Democrats Howard Johnson, April Baskin, Lisa Chimera, and Tim Meyers handily defeated their respective opponents. For Johnson, Chimera, and Meyers, it is their first election win in the Erie County Legislature after they were appointed to the seats that were previously held by Barbara Miller Williams, Peter Savage, and Pat Burke, respectively. Baskin, the chairwoman of the legislature, won a second term.
Kevin Hardwick, who caucused for several years with the republicans until his switch last December to the democrats, edged political newcomer Jacob McMahon to win a sixth term in the 4th legislative district.
"There were things happening at the national level and the local level," Hardwick said about his reasons for leaving the republican party. "On the national level you had the hostile takeover of the republican party of a former democrat named Donald Trump. He didn't just take it over and become the nominee, he blew through the establishment...I was a center-right republican and he pulled it way to the right and it wasn't the substance of what he was talking about. It was his style. I couldn't look to my students and my children and say this is how you behave in politics."
Hardwick admitted that Trump's presidency wasn't "enough" for him to leave the GOP. He said it was his issues with republicans during the budget process last December when he compromised with democrats and voted against a tax cut.
Two new faces in the legislature will include Jeanne Vinal, who comfortably won representation in the legislature's 5th district after incumbent Tom Loughran chose not to seek a re-election. She defeated Shelly Schratz by almost ten points. John Gilmour defeated Ryan Stang in the county's 9th legislative district, putting the Hamburg district into the hands of democrats after Lynne Dixon, a registered member of the Independence Party, opted to run for county executive.
Democrats lost one representative in the legislature. Majority Leader John Bruso, a one-term legislator who represented Cheektowaga, Lancaster, and Alden, was edged by Frank Todaro by more than three points. Bruso, however, did not concede defeat according to reports.
Republicans Joe Lorigo, John Mills, and Ed Rath, each won their elections with little challenge.
The status quo will remain in Erie County after the 2019 election, which gives democrats a chance to push their agenda with little opposition due to a lack of republican representation. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, who defeated Dixon, said some of the initiatives he hopes to push includes ErieNET, Live Well Erie, and contributing to the growth of the local economy.