Things are complicated in New York’s 27th Congressional District, which includes part of Ontario County.
Some candidates have been identified, which is a relief and frustrating. Governor Andrew Cuomo has signaled that a special election will be held on April 28th for the seat vacated by former Congressman Chris Collins, who pleaded guilty and was recently sentenced in an insider trading case.
Nate McMurry is expected to be the candidate for Democrats. He ran unsuccessfully against Collins when he was initially facing charges.
Erie County Chair Jeremy Zellner confirmed as much to the New York State of Politics blog. “I just don’t think there’s going to be a Democratic primary but anyone has the ability to go out and petition now on any party line to be on the ballot for the June primary,” Zellner said.
He’s waiting for the Governor to call for the special election. He can only do that between February 9th and 19th. It’s a ten day window, and that’s when official nominations will happen on the Democratic side.
Meanwhile, Republicans have chosen Chris Jacobs. That also will need to be officially confirmed after the announcement is made.
Zellner says the process has been confusing, but officials are doing the best they can with the information in front of them.
“I think the people are confused about government and politics in general,” Zellner said. “This is the process that’s laid out. When you fill a vacancy, this is how it works and if people don’t like that they need to voice their opinion to the state Legislature and governor to maybe make that change.”
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