The headline of this post is an old saw that at least anecdotally is truer than not. How the Town of Cheektowaga votes often lays out a pattern that is duplicated countywide, statewide, and nationally.
Here are just some recent examples:
- 2020 – Joe Biden carries the town 54-46 percent over Donald Trump.
- 2022 – Kathy Hochul wins the town 51-49 percent over Lee Zeldin.
- 2023 – Democratic Supervisor Brian Nowak is elected by a 53-vote margin over Michael Jasinski; voters elect one Democrat, Gerald Kaminski, while the Republicans elect two members of the Town Board, Vernon Thompson and Barbara Bakowski. The Board is under Republican control.
- 2024 – Kamala Harris wins the town over Donald Trump by a smaller margin (52-48 percent) than the size of Biden’s win in 2020.
- 2025 – Democrats in the town elect four contested races for the town Board, which with Supervisor Nowak will give Democrats a 5-2 majority in January.
Some of the elections can be linked to state and national politics and policy. The highly charged political atmosphere in recent years was brought front and center in Cheektowaga as immigrants were housed in Cheektowaga hotels, at least one of which was located in a highly populated neighborhood. That impacted Cheektowaga voters in 2023.
Republican control on the Cheektowaga Board brought a MAGA attitude to the proceedings. Spending on such things as infrastructure projects that in the past were routinely approved were subjected to prolonged debate and cuts in funding. Infrastructure projects are basically pay-me-now-or-pay-me-later activities. The work must be done; delays increase cost. Recently Republicans on the Board attempted to cut $26,000 in funding for a Meals on Wheels program, following a policy line of their Republican colleagues in Washington.
Cheektowaga’s Democratic sweep fits a pattern that occurred elsewhere in Western New York and throughout the nation. Here is just a sampling of the results:
- Sean Ryan was elected mayor of Buffalo by a landslide over a Republican who spent more than $400,000 on his campaign. The frequent commentary in the media about Buffalo elections is that the city has not elected a Republican mayor since 1961; there have only been a couple Republican members of the Common Council over that period of time. The thing is that Republican candidates have not been banned from running in the city. It is simply that the party has given up on the city where more than one quarter of the county’s population lives.
- Democratic incumbent county comptroller Kevin Hardwick won a landslide victory over a well-financed opponent.
- Amherst Democrats also had a clean sweep, winning the offices of supervisor, two town Board seats, and a town justice position.
- Town of Tonawanda Democrats elected candidates for all three Board seats on the ballot.
- The City of Tonawanda saw the Democrat candidate for mayor defeat the incumbent Republican while Democrats also won four Council seats.
- In the City of North Tonawanda Democratic mayor Austin Tylec was re-elected by more than a two-to-one margin, bringing along Democrats for victories in four Council seats previously held by Republicans.
- Nationally new Democratic Party governor candidates were elected in New Jersey and Virginia. Democrats picked up additional delegate seats in the Virginia House.
- California’s proposition 50, which will redraw congressional seats in the state, was approved by a margin of better than two-to-one.
- In Pennsylvania three incumbent Supreme Court Judges were retained by overwhelming majorities following a highly contested election.
- In Georgia two Democrats defeated incumbent Republican candidates in elections for the state Public Service Commission; the main issue was utility costs.
- In Mississippi three Democrats won state Senate seats, depriving Republicans of their super-majority in the Senate.
- In the township of Bridgewater, New Jersey Democrats took three-to-two control of the town Board. There has not been a Democrat elected to that Board in 37 years.
The link among all of the above noted examples and others throughout the country is that voters believe that Donald Trump has failed to live up to his campaign promises. He promised that the price of groceries would come down in January; that gas prices would drop; that the cost of car insurance would be cut in half. Voters supported the removal of immigrants who have committed crimes but they have reacted negatively to the enforcement style of administration’s policies, which has involved masked, unidentified law enforcement personnel who seem to often profile people based on their race and ethnicity.
The public has also reacted to the grifting of the administration, designed to increase the riches of the Trump family and friends. Tearing down part of the White House to build an ornate 300 million dollar attached ballroom and remodeling with gold-plated bathroom fixtures sends unwelcomed messages to people who are working hard to pay for food on their tables and a roof over their heads – plus the Republican-directed loss of health insurance for millions of Americans.
These discussions will continue into the 2026 elections with races for state offices and members of Congress. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in her race for governor against Kathy Hochul will spend a great deal of her time attacking the new mayor of New York but her iron-tight connection to Trump will have her defending undefendable positions on dozens of issues that affect the daily lives of millions of New Yorkers.
It would be better for the good of the country if there was more of a political center in American politics that could focus on rational public policy that recognizes the needs of this country. Maybe someday.
Bluesky @kenkruly
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