| Phillip wrote earlier on the developments in New York's 26th congressional district that Republican Sen. George Maziarz will not run for the seat being vacated by Tom Reynolds. Phillip also asked a very good question: What happened? What did he get from Bruno?
The first part of that - the what happened portion. In my view, a few things happened here. One, there has been a lot of questions about whether or not Maziarz can use his huge campaign bankroll from his Senate seat for a congressional run. I'm sure family played a role somehow, but the money thing had to be a factor.
Now, what did he get from Bruno? That remains to be seen. He already was given the post of Senate Energy Committee chairman which opened up when Sen. Jim Wright retired. But Maziarz is one of the veterans in GOP Senate circles. I'm certain that he saw his seat as one the Democrats could target and possibly win in November. He doesn't want that, especially after building up the mini-empire he has in Niagara County.
As for the remaining field, Assemblyman Jim Hayes appears to be the frontrunner now that Maziarz is gone. Hayes isn't the best, but I don't see any of the other candidates being mentioned (Nick Sinatra, David Bellavia, Michael Powers, Steve Hawley and Jim Kelly) being able to top Hayes. If Hayes doesn't run, that leaves the GOP in trouble. Maziarz dropping out was bad enough, as he is a much stronger candidate than Hayes. But now, this seat is very appealing to the Democrats.
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