WEST SENECA, N.Y. — It was a short night for Gary Dickson, the West Seneca town supervisor and the Republican candidate in the special election for Brian Higgins’ former seat in Congress.
Just 17 minutes after the polls closed, the Associated Press called the race in Democrat Tim Kennedy’s favor for New York’s 26th Congressional District.
Dickson took the podium around 10 p.m. and still struck a note of accomplishment in his speech.
After addressing his supporters, 2 On Your Side caught up with the town supervisor and asked him what he thought ultimately led voters to choose State Senator Kennedy.
“I think it's several factors,” Dickson said. “It was very short, so not a lot of time to get the name recognition and the message out. And then there's a bit of a disparity in resources, which goes to that also, but I think certainly the time period played a factor.”
Dickson spoke specifically to the nearly four-month gap that he had to catch up in between the time that Kennedy entered the race in November and when Dickson received the GOP endorsement in February.
The GOP saw Dickson as a candidate that could pull off the upset in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans two-to-one because he was elected the first Republican town supervisor of West Seneca in 50 years back in 2019. However, it ultimately was too big of a challenge for him to overcome.
Erie County GOP Chairman Michael Kracker told 2 On Your Side that the party already has its republican candidate for November’s general election — Anthony Marecki. However, he said he still believes that Dickson’s best days are ahead of him.
Dickson could also run as an independent in the November election but said Tuesday he had not yet decided.
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