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The Buffalo News has an article today on the campaign announcement of another challenger to one of the Democratic members of the Erie County government. This time the target is Kathy Konst of Lancaster, representing District 5 in the county legislature.
From the News:
Dino Fudoli, 38, a Canisius College graduate who owns a property development company, will oppose Konst. He is already labeling the incumbent an "obstructionist" to the county executive's agenda.
Fascinating, isn't it, that the only "obstructionists" in the Erie County Legislature are Democrats in potentially competitive seats.
Apparently Fudoli learned a little something from the embarassingly fawning rollout of Kevin Hardwick, and so made sure to at least pretend to disagree with Collins on something. Though whether that means anything, we'll see later.
"It's strange that someone like Kathy Konst would go against the county executive on everything," he said. "I don't support everything he does; I don't support his tax increase. But she sticks her neck out to obstruct everything he wants done."
Of course anyone who knows Erie County politics is aware that that's a load, and that Kathy has actually gotten in hot water with her own party a few times for taking the other side in a disagreement. However, Kathy has also had several high-profile fights with Collins over the county budget--and as I said with regard to the challenger to "obstructionist" Michelle Iannello, attempting to obstruct incompetance is not a bad thing.
Now that appears to have extended to Konst, with Fudoli indicating he has met with Collins and hopes he will assist him politically and financially.
"I can expect he would maybe help me in that aspect," Fudoli said of Collins' financial backing. "It's certainly something I would ask him for."
And there's the onion. Each and every one of these candidates is effectively running as a proxy for Chris Collins, in what you could be forgiven for thinking of as a "Vote Lapdog" campaign. All of them are going to be so politically indebted to Collins if they got elected that they wouldn't be able to provide real checks and balances government without losing their sugar daddy.
The Erie County legislature races this November are far more important than they might seem to the outside observer. Besides preserving a vital Democratic foothold in western New York, they're a crucial bellweather of Chris Collins' popularity and political capital. Collins is already being talked up by elements within the state GOP for statewide office next year, possibly even the Governor's race. Facing a major defeat of his hand-picked puppet candidates this year would put some serious marks on his self-touted record. |
