Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Tuesday night was a bit of a difficult evening for Republicans in Erie County in an off year for elections. Despite earning a couple of wins in local races in the Southtowns, the results at the polls for Republicans did not fare so well in places like Amherst, Buffalo and Cheektowaga.
Given the poor outcomes with some of the local races for Republicans, Erie County GOP chair Michael Kracker acknowledges there may be some who feel a change among leadership within the Republican Committee may be needed.
"We always joke in this business that there are three professions you call for them to be fired: Head coaches, [general managers] and party chairs. I understand that, and ultimately, I'm accountable as the leader of this organization for our successes and failures. And we had some setbacks last night, I'm not going to hide from it," said Kracker while appearing with David Bellavia on WBEN. "But it's how we respond to tough nights. I've been in politics a long time, I've had great nights and I've had tough nights. Last night, despite some successes like Hamburg and Orchard Park and other places, it was a setback."
Kracker feels the best way sometimes to respond to adversity is learning more about yourself and how you may respond to a tough race. This is especially the case for him with being the chairman of the Erie County Republican Committee.
"I'm very proud to lead this organization. I work very hard and I have a great team, I have great candidates. And I'll continue to do that, and if they want me to continue to serve, I'm all in to do it. We have so much work to do as Republicans, we have to keep fighting, we have to keep building," Kracker said on Wednesday. "We have to learn from what went well in this election, learn from what didn't go well and what we can improve upon in the future. And then we need to get our butts back to work, because we have an election next year to elect a Republican governor and fire Kathy Hochul. So I can't sit around and pout. I've got to figure out what didn't we do well, what can we do better in the future, and then get right back to work."
Perhaps the marquee local race of Election Day in Erie County was the race for Buffalo Mayor, that ended up being a landslide victory for Democrat Sean Ryan in a three-way race over James Gardner (R) and Michael Gainer (I).
Despite facing a massive uphill climb as Republicans in a largely blue county, Kracker can't say enough good things about the fight that Gardner put up in his run for the Mayor's Office at Buffalo City Hall.
"Just a terrific human being, a terrific Republican. Ran a great campaign in a city where we are dramatically outnumbered, and haven't had a Republican mayor since 1960. He could have easily abandoned ship and said, 'See you later.' He didn't," Kracker said. "He built a great campaign organization, he connected us with communities that are going to pay dividends in races down the line. I think about some of the relationships that we've built in South Buffalo and new immigrant communities that are now going to have relationships we can apply in things like the county executive race in 2027. So James' mission wasn't for naught."
While Kracker acknowledges the negatives in some of the more significant local races in Erie County, he does reflect positively on the wins the GOP Committee came away with Tuesday.
"The wins last night in Hamburg, in Orchard Park, in Lancaster, they continued a total Republican victory. These are important races for us," Kracker said. "I always tell our folks the real strength and muscle of the Erie County Republican Party lies in our towns, and we we made some progress in big towns. I mean, Hamburg is one of the largest towns in Erie County, it's Kathy Hochul's hometown. That message is going to resonate across the state that Kathy Hochul, a Hamburg Town Board member, is long gone and her hometown doesn't recognize her policies anymore, is rejecting them. Orchard Park, Joe LiBerti, a great new supervisor who's got an important job to do, building that community's future as the Bills stadium rises in Orchard Park. Those are key."
Looking ahead to the 2026 general election in about a year, Kracker is already focused on winning some key seats to be available in state government. More specifically, the race for the 61st State Senate District that will be vacated by Sean Ryan once he is sworn as the next Mayor of Buffalo.
Kracker expects Republicans to compete in that election against the likes of State Assemblyman Jon Rivera, as well as Erie County Democratic Chair Jeremy Zellner, who have both already declared their intended run.
"Some tough races for us here in Erie County, but this is sort of something we're trying to get the public's attention focused on. The Democratic Party in this county disrespects you, and we cannot reward that disrespect with election victories. And unfortunately, we've got to keep beating that drum to wake people up," Kracker added.
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