Dec. 24—While 2024 may be most notable for its run-up to the presidential election, there were several notable changes to the local policital landscape.
The biggest among them happened well before November’s general election. In June, Democratic state Sen. Timothy Kennedy won a special election Tuesday the New York congressional seat vacated by Democrat Brian Higgins.
Kennedy defeated Republican Gary Dickson for the upstate New York seat, helped by a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage in the district, which includes Buffalo, Niagara Falls and several suburbs.
Higgins stepped down from Congress on Feb. 2 to become the next president at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo.
The 26th Congressional District covers the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, the towns of Amherst, Grand Island, Cheektowaga and Lewiston and other parts of Niagara County.
Kennedy was re-elected to the seat in November’s election.
Also re-elected was Assemblyman Angelo Morinello who fought off a challenge from Niagara County Legislator Jeffrey Elder.
One assembly seat did change hands as the 144th District’s long-time representative Mike Norris dropped out of the race late in the summer to pursue a position as State Supreme Court justice. He was replaced on the ballot by Paul Bologna who had served as his chief of staff. Bologna defeated former Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman for the seat in November’s election.
All of the local races were overshadowed by this year’s presidential election. What started out as a rematch of the 2020 race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump drastically changed in late July when Biden withdrew following a disastrous debate and questions about his ability to lead the nation. In late August, Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nominee, who had selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
In the end, Donald Trump, whose running mate was Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was elected the 47th president of the United States.
And despite concerns that it could take days to confirm election results, it was apparent election night that Trump was going to come out on top.
Trump won the popular vote — 50.8% to 47.5% (72,353,987 to 67,650,043), according to CNN.
While Harris won New York’s presidential contest, picking up the state’s 28 electoral votes, in Niagara County, Trump was the top vote-getter. He finished with 57% of the county vote to Harris’ 42% — 57,156-41,825.
