Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It was certainly a birthday that Mark Poloncarz will never forget.
For the fourth time in his nearly 20 years serving in county government, Poloncarz has won the election to serve as Erie County Executive, this year beating his Republican challenger Chrissy Casilio.
"It is the best birthday present, and the only one I truly wanted from the people of Erie County, and I'm very thankful to be given an opportunity to serve once again," said Poloncarz following his electoral victory in the marquee race in 2023.
It was just after 10:15 p.m. EST on Tuesday night when Democratic Party Chair Jeremy Zellner declared via X, formerly known as Twitter, that Poloncarz had won his seat as County Executive for an unprecedented fourth term. It wasn't until just after 11 a.m. EST when Poloncarz officially took to the stage at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo's Theatre District to speak on his victory.
"I've said all along, this race is about what we've accomplished in the past, and what the goals are going forward to continue to move this community forward," Poloncarz said. "It was a pretty nasty race at a time with things that were thrown [out there], but I just kept on focusing on what we've done, and what I want to do going forward. I'm so grateful that not only was I given an opportunity to serve, but it was a a big victory."
Just before Poloncarz took to the stage on Tuesday, he says he did receive a phone call from Casilio, as she officially conceded the race. Poloncarz says he was appreciative of her calling to concede, despite the attacks she targeted at Poloncarz as the election drew closer and closer to Election Night.
"Ms. Casilio did call and concede, and I thank her for doing that. Not every one of my opponents in the past have actually called and concede, so I think it's very important that you did it and I appreciate it," Poloncarz said.
"I think it's important: When you win, you win graciously. When you lose, you lose with respect. And what we're seeing, unfortunately, in our country today is too many people who don't win automatically criticize and object the results, and say the election was stolen. That didn't happen here, and I give to her credit, I say it's a good thing she did that, because I think it's important to send a message out that the election that we saw today was the will of the people."
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Despite the actions and messages thrown out on social media and in the public by Casilio in the weeks leading up to Tuesday night, Poloncarz felt pretty good with where he stood with the people of Erie County all along. He says their internal polling results in the days leading up to the election showed a 16-to-14-point lead. As of early Wednesday morning, with 94% of the votes being accounted for, Poloncarz was victorious by about 18 points in the polls.
"The calls we were making, the doors we were knocking, the response we were getting from the public was good. So I felt good," Poloncarz said.
"I felt confident, but you never know what's going to happen until the votes are tallied. While I felt good and we had great projections from our team, you can't say it's done until the numbers are counted."
Despite the harshness of the campaign against Poloncarz by Casilio, the incumbent Poloncarz knew the people ended up rejecting the messages she had, and the majority of people have agreed with what his administration has done.
"I think what was said tonight was a mandate, a mandate from the people of Erie County for the work that we're doing," he said. "There may be some vocal people out there who disagree, but it was quite apparent, because it was a pretty good turnout. This was not a very low turnout. We don't get presidential year turnouts for these types of elections, but I believe I have a mandate going forward to continue the work that we've done. I just want to thank the people of Erie County for giving me that opportunity."
Poloncarz, once again, said Tuesday that his fourth term in office as County Executive will be his last in Erie County. He says it's a goal of his to continue the work he has started over the last few years to continue to improve the quality of life for residents across the region.
"I look at it as we've accomplished a lot, and my goal has always been that when I leave office, whether it's I walk out myself or the people send me packing, that people can say no matter what, he left the community in better shape than when he took it. I'm proud to say I believe that is the case," Poloncarz said. "Erie County is in much better financial shape than when I took it. Erie County's parks and libraries are much stronger than they were. We've left it in much better shape than we took it, and our goal is just to continue to do that."
Poloncarz's fourth term in office as County Executive officially starts on Jan. 1, 2024.