BUFFALO (WBEN) - "Of course, it's been nearly a year of campaigning, and you'd hope that the result would be different," said a disappointed Lynne Dixon on Tuesday night following her concession speech. "But the voters have spoken, so we move on."
In a race that may have been closer than many had anticipated going into Election Day, incumbent County Executive Mark Poloncarz pulled out the victory in what was the most watched race in Erie County this year.
In the county's 4th district (Tonawanda, City of Tonawanda, Grand Island), there were hopes that challenger Jacob McMahon could unseat Kevin Hardwick, who switched his party affiliation to Democrat during his term as legislator. Regardless of the outrage, Hardwick won re-election.
Minority leader Joe Lorigo, who cruised to a victory over Thomas Casey in the 10th district, discussed the problems that he's seeing in the legislature, as there have been several meetings this year that have become quite the back-and-forth spectacle.
"I think the county legislature needs to have a balance between the needs of all of Erie County," he said. "Lately, the legislature seems to be focused very much so on city issues and not suburban or rural issues. When it comes to our roads, when it comes to our bridges, we have failed horribly...We also in the legislature have had a very acrimonious dialogue back and forth; we need to cut back on the acrimony and focus on working some positive solutions for the residents of all of Erie County."