Tag: Politics

Nov 21

2025

Lawyer puts up $800k to deny party boss a Senate seat

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Attorney Peter Reese, a relentless pot-stirrer in Western New York politics for decades, is hell-bent on preventing Erie County Democratic Chair Jeremy Zellner from becoming a state senator. On Tuesday Reese filed paperwork with the state elections board to create an independent expenditure committee dedicated to derailing Zellner’s efforts to succeed Sean Ryan, Buffalo’s mayor-elect, in representing the 61st State Senate District.  He’s seeding the committee’s bank account with $800,000 of his own money.  “I figured a million would be too gaudy,” Reese told Investigative Post.  The committee is called ATAT, short for “Ainsi toujours aux tyrans,” Reese said. That’s[...]

Posted 4 days ago

Nov 20

2025

Niagara Falls mayor admits ‘ignoring’ media requests for info

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Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino. In his latest update from inside Niagara Falls City Hall, Mayor Robert Restaino once again donned his newspaper publisher’s cap to tell the Niagara Gazette what stories it should be printing and to tell residents his administration is not refusing the local news outlet’s requests for public information but is rather just ignoring them. Restaino, a former city court judge removed from the bench for misconduct, justified this flouting of state Freedom of Information law by citing his frustration with the newspaper’s choice of stories. In a message published on his office’s YouTube channel, Restaino accused[...]

Posted 5 days ago

Nov 5

2025

Ryan wins, Democrats sweep Cheektowaga

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Erie County Democrats had plenty to celebrate Tuesday night. It was no surprise that the party’s nominee for Buffalo mayor, Sean Ryan prevailed, beating two opponents with more than 70 percent of the vote. Nor was it a surprise that incumbent Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick won reelection, beating Republican and Conservative nominee Christine Czarnik by nearly 18 percentage points. The real wins for Democrats were outside the city. Tonight: Our event on ICE and immigration in WNY In Cheektowaga, the party’s candidates swept every race, winning back the majority on the town council by unseating two Republican and Conservative[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Oct 29

2025

Voters have limited choices in next week’s elections

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There are 150 elected offices on the ballot in Erie County next week. Fewer than half of those races are contested. Little wonder voter engagement is so low. In countywide elections, there are 21 jobs up for grabs: all 11 seats on the legislature, eight judgeships, the office of comptroller and sheriff. (Two of those judgeships are on the state Supreme Court, Eighth Judicial District, which includes eight counties, including Erie.)  Voters have a choice between candidates in only six races — for comptroller and five legislative seats. The candidates for judge are all cross-endorsed by multiple parties, and there[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Oct 28

2025

Gardner spends big on mayor’s race

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James Gardner, the Republican candidate for Buffalo mayor, has spent close to $400,000 of his own money on his campaign in the past three months. That puts the former prosecutor and judicial clerk on pace to spend at least $500,000 out of pocket before next Tuesday’s election — about the same amount he spent last year in his unsuccessful bid for Erie County District Attorney. Meanwhile, State Sen. Sean Ryan continues to coast toward election day, having spent big to win June’s Democratic primary, and independent candidate Michael Gainer is running a shoe-leather campaign with little money but lots of[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Oct 23

2025

From conservative to kinda crazy

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Back in the day, Republican leaders in Western New York were conservatives. Congressmen like Jack Kemp and Jack Quinn. Erie County Executive Ed Rutkowski. State Senator George Maziarz. Party chairmen like Bob Davis and Jim Domagalski. Party leadership started down a slippery slope a couple of decades ago. Carl Paladino switched party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 2005 after his friend Tony Masiello, a Democrat, retired from public office. Mike Caputo, an operative who learned at the feet of Roger Stone, became a player locally when he ran Paladino’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign and his influence grew from there. Nick[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Oct 20

2025

The Niagara County angle to national scandal

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You may have read about the private chats among Young Republican operatives in four states, including New York, that went public via a report by Politico, which summarized the content as follows: They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery. Then there was the quote “I love Hitler.” The response from MAGA types varied. The New York Republican Party disbanded the state chapter of the Young Republicans. Vice[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Oct 15

2025

James Gardner: A political profile

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James Gardner, the Republican and Conservative party candidate for Buffalo mayor, knows he’s fighting an uphill battle. Nearly two-thirds of the city’s registered voters are Democrats. They outnumber Republicans and Conservatives by a 6-to-1 margin. Voters haven’t installed a Republican in the mayor’s office in over 60 years. Still, Gardner believes the city’s many woes — dire finances, crumbling infrastructure, diminished services — present an opportunity for change. “My message is a simple one,” Gardner told Investigative Post in an interview last month. “This is what 60 years of one-party rule will get you. You have to change the way[...]

Posted 1 month ago
Investigative Post