One of his political adversaries has called Mark Charles Poloncarz the most underrated politician in Western New York over the last 20 years.
On Tuesday, Poloncarz showed why that characterization is accurate. If ever an elected leader was vulnerable to an aggressive challenger, it seemed to have been this candidate and this year, with Poloncarz facing criticism about storm response, his handling of immigration issues and a personal scandal that erupted in the middle of summer.
But the Buffalo Democrat brushed all of that aside, accomplishing in dominant fashion what no Erie County executive has done in the office’s 62-year history: winning a fourth term in office.
“Thanks, Erie County, for giving me the best birthday present ever,” Poloncarz told supporters downtown after declaring victory over Republican Chrissy Casilio, whom Poloncarz said had “graciously” conceded the race in a phone call to him.
It was quite a happy birthday for the 57-year-old lawyer, who won with a message of economic turnaround, steady leadership, tax cuts and the hiring of more sheriff’s deputies in what he has said will be his final term.
It didn’t hurt that his opponent was a first-time candidate who had a rocky start to her first run for office when it was revealed that she spread conspiracy theories on social media.
Additionally, Casilio came nowhere close to raising the $1 million that political insiders estimated would be needed to make the race competitive.
Casilio’s campaign focused almost exclusively on what it considered Poloncarz’s weaknesses: his handling of migrants from the southern U.S. border; Covid-19 lockdowns that made him unpopular with some voters; and allegations regarding his treatment of a former girlfriend.
But try as she might, Casilio could not get the votes of moderate Democrats in a majority Democratic county who might have been willing to try something different after three terms of Poloncarz. For those voters,…
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