Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Byron Brown, Brian Higgins and Joe Emminger are among area elected leaders who have stepped away in the middle of their terms. It's become a trend, but experts say there's not one particular reason for that.
Ken Kruly of Politics and Other Stuff says people just move on. "I wouldn't read too much into it, one way or another. I think that they just decide that they have an opportunity to do something else, or they feel they've accomplished what they want to accomplish, that they want to move on," says Kruly.
Kruly believes many voters don't care one way or the other. "I think that a lot of people are turned off by politics these days and the way things are running," Kruly explains. "I'd say that as a longtime veteran of participants and an observer, and that's kind of discouraging to me, but I think that's the reality."
Kruly says it's not limited to local politicians. "There's been a record number of members of the House of Representatives who have announced they're not running for election. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's sort of at the height of her attention, moved on and resigned. So things happen. People get turned off by some of the nastiness of the politics that's going on these days," adds Kruly.
But Jack O'Donnell says the wrong reason can turn voters off. "If you're running for an office, the people who vote for you have an expectation that you're going to do your best to fulfill your responsibilities throughout that term. Again, it depends on a lot of personal factors that go into these decisions, but I'll tell you, anytime voters get the impression that it's being done for back room deals or shenanigans, voters tend not to like that very much. But the truth of the matter is, if someone's leaving, it's kind of hard to react to that," says O'Donnell.
O'Donnell believes people who want to solve problems and they want to talk to other people and find the best answer, sometimes the middle ground answer. "That doesn't always play as well in the Twitter and social media world in which we live today, and so I do think some of that speed of politics, but also the hyper partisanship of this age really can take a toll on you when you've come into this to do the right thing, that can really weigh on you.," says O'Donnell.
Joe Emminger announced he would step down as Tonawanda Supervisor Wednesday.
Analysts say there's no rhyme or reason
Analysts say there's no rhyme or reason
