Democrats celebrate huge Election Day

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Election Day 2026 was a resounding one for Democrats not just in Erie County, but also in New York State and across the nation.

In Washington, D.C., several Congressional elections went in favor of Democrats, allowing for the party to, once again, take control of the House of Representatives and Senate.

In New York State, Gov. Kathy Hochul was re-elected for her second full term in office after being declared the winner over Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman shortly after the polls closed at 9 a.m. EST by the Associated Press. In addition, several Democrats were either elected or re-elected to the State Legislature, including a number of seats in Western New York districts.

Then Democrats were victorious in a couple of notable local elections, most notably in the race for Erie County Clerk with Steve Meyer unseating Republican incumbent Mickey Kearns.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz feels the election results strongly indicate that people are angry and upset about the Republicans in Washington, which then bleeds down to the state and local levels of government.

"Donald Trump is more worried about the additional gold leaf he can put on the White House or his arc that he talked about yesterday. He talked about the reflecting pole in the arc, while people are hurting, and they want change," said Poloncarz on Tuesday night at Democratic headquarters. "They want people to fight for them, and that's what the Democratic Party has always done since Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman in the 1940s, as we fought for the working men and women of this country. And now it's incumbent upon the Democrats in Washington, as well as in New York State and locally, to honor that commitment that the people gave us by ensuring that we're fighting to reduce prices to make life more affordable."

Erie County Democratic chairman Jeremy Zellner can also sense the people's frustrations with Republicans from the top level on down.

"I think it really shows that the negative campaign the Republicans did, the bombardment of signs and ugliness, and the ugly signs they put out against the governor really meant nothing to people. They want to see results," said Zellner with WBEN. "They rewarded the governor with 20,000 more votes in our county than she had four years ago because of what she's done for this community. So I'm really really excited for the next four years with her."

In the race for Albany, Zellner wasn't surprised one bit when learning how quick some called the governor's race in favor of Hochul.

"We knew we were working hard across the state and that her message was resonating," Zellner said. "We really worked hard to get her message out here in Erie County, so I'm incredibly proud that we were able to get 20,000 more votes out of here for her."

As for the local races for State Assembly and Senate, Zellner knows how vital resources to Western New York from the state are, and is confident the region's delegation can deliver results.

"We've lost the Majority Leader [Crystal Peoples-Stokes], who was a legendary figure in Albany for many years who got the resources we needed. So our delegation is going to have to step up now, and Pat Burke and Karen McMahon are senior members in the State Assembly. I think Leah Halton-Pope is going to be a great addition," Zellner noted. "It's yet to be seen what happens in the 143rd, but Pat Burke has won his re-election, and Bill Conrad has won. They're very strong members of the Assembly who are very close with the speaker [Carl Heastie], and I'm very confident in their abilities to get the resources back. Senator Baskin was re-elected, and I think she's going to do a great job, also."

The one race Poloncarz knew Erie County Republicans were going hard at in this year's election was for the 142nd Assembly district with West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson challenging Burke's set in Albany.

"They thought they were going to win with Gary Dickson, and I heard a lot, 'If Gary Dickson defeats Pat Burke, Gary Dickson's going to run for county executive.' Gary Dickson's not running for county executive after losing that district, which includes all of West Seneca. So kudos to Pat Burke, a big victory," Poloncarz said.

As for the Erie County Clerk's race, there's plenty of rave to go around for Meyer to take over that office as of this January.

"I think Mickey Kearns has spent a career saying he's not a politician, while running for office-after-office-after-office. You're not going to see that with Steve Meyer," Zellner said. "Steve is a strong, young, smart executive, who I think is going to make that office up to date right now with the way they file things. He's just got a lot of energy and excitement, and I think he's a new generation of leadership in this county. I really think that's what people are looking for right now."

Poloncarz feels it's very important to have working partners in government, and that's what he's excited to get with Meyer in the Clerk's Office.

"Mickey Kearns and I just didn't work together. I remember when he was fighting when the comptroller tried to do the audit, where we knew there was problems with their finances and he didn't want to do the audit. And then they found out through the audit that money was disappearing, and of course, his deputy clerk ended up going to jail. You've got to have someone you can work with. You don't always agree on everything," Poloncarz said.

As for Meyer, he feels Tuesday's results is a sign that the voters have spoken their minds about the current state of county government.

"It's a pretty resounding victory, in my opinion, because I think at the beginning of this year, a lot of people told me they didn't think this was possible. But the voters today decided that it was," said Meyer after his victory.

"We have been working incredibly hard. We have a very advanced operation, a very innovative operation, a young team of hungry people who are ready to make a change. True believers that we deserve better. And in fact, in the past five hours, right before polls closed, they made over 10,000 phone calls to voters in Erie County, which is kind of unprecedented for an Erie County Clerk's race."

Meyer feels he can restore some credibility to the County Clerk's Office, and says he's not afraid to take accountability if and when things may go wrong.

"Over the past few years, we've seen several crimes and problems happen in this office, and not once has the person in charge taken accountability for those things. So what I bring to the table, first and foremost, is accountability, honesty, and transparency," Meyer said.

At times, Meyer admits he felt the County Clerk's role became too political for what the job truly entails.

"The County Clerk's Office, a lot of people know it's an administrative role. It shouldn't be so chaotic. It shouldn't be so hyper-political. It should be, frankly, maybe a little bit boring. It's been anything but that over the past few years," he said.

And like Poloncarz, Meyer is very much looking forward to becoming a partner in local government.

"I'll say one thing to the voters of Erie County: It doesn't matter if an elected official is a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent or anything in between. I'll be ready to work for the voters of Erie County with anybody who's willing to work with us," Meyer said.