Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown on Thursday spoke with WBEN on where he stands on potentially running for the NY-26 congressional seat following the announced departure of Congressman Brian Higgins, who will officially depart for a new job as CEO of Shea's Buffalo Theatre in February of 2024.
"[I] continue to talk to people in Buffalo across the 26th district and in Washington, DC about the potential of a run, getting great encouragement. A lot of people are very supportive of me looking at this, have not made a final decision yet," said the mayor.
The mayor has said in many recent interviews that there is a real need in Washington for a representative that can connect both right and left government officials to come together to enact true bipartisan policies. He reiterated that this week.
"Something is broken in Washington. The U.S. House of Representatives is not working for the American people. We need people who are centrists. We need people who can bring people together on the left and the right and that's why I'm looking at running for Congress."
Mayor Brown predicts he will have a firm decision of whether or not he will be running sometime in January.
"I know that the Erie County Democratic Committee Chairman Jeremy Zellner is talking about a process that would unfold in January, where the Democratic committee would make a decision. So I will look at this and work with this according to that timeline."
As of now, Dec. 14, the only candidate who has announced a run for the special election for NY-26 is New York State Senator Tim Kennedy, who has been serving in his role as state senator since 2011.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz issued a statement this week that said he was not running for Higgins' Congressional seat:
“After much consideration and discussing the opportunity with party leaders, former county colleagues now serving in Congress, friends, family, and the people I currently serve, I have decided not to seek the Democratic nomination for Congress."
However, given that the New York State Court of Appeals this week ordered the state to redraw its congressional map, the 4-3 ruling could likely shake up the strategy of candidates who were looking to run for NY-26.
Related
With redistricting now on the horizon for the 2024 election, would it be smart of prospective candidates to sit out a special election and wait to run when they know what the district will be?
Ken Kruly of politicsandstuff.com says it probably won't change the mind of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, whose fourth term as county executive would end in 2027.
"I think the county executive has made his decision that he's not going to run for Congress in 2024 and so I don't think that'll affect him in any way. It could potentially affect other people. Mayor Brown is the only one who's been actively talking to people that I'm aware of. There may be some other candidates who want to see what the district looks like, but I don't think it'll have any impact on what the county executive is doing."
"I'm not really thinking much about redistricting," Brown told WBEN. "I think the 26th congressional district boundary lines are going to stay pretty much the same. It's a district that I know well. As a former state senator, I served the people of the city of Tonawanda to the people of Niagara Falls. I spent a lot of time in Niagara County as well as Erie County. So I know the district, a lot of people in the district know me. Redistricting will not play a major role in my decision-making process."