Tag: Politics

Dec 27

2020

Politics after Trump

Published by

Donald Trump’s presidency is about to be past tense. What should our post-Trump politics look like? Joe Biden hopes it’s a time of healing. Conciliation is in his blood and I won’t blame him for trying. But good luck with that. More than 70 million Americans voted for Trump and I question if there’s more than a sliver that can be persuaded. Most of the Republican base is some combination of gullible, bigoted, woefully misinformed or hardcore one-issue voters, starting with abortion. (I almost feel sorry for traditional conservatives; relatively few of their values have been reflected in Trump’s policies.)[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Dec 19

2020

Brown a formidable, yet vulnerable candidate

Published by

Since 2005, Mayor Byron Brown has raised and spent more than $5 million to win and hold the mayor’s office.  He spent $1.4 million to fend off Bernie Tolbert, his Democratic primary challenger in 2013. Four years later, he spent another $1 million in his primary race against then Comptroller Mark Schroeder. As of July, however, when his campaign committee last filed a disclosure report, Brown had just $115,568 in the bank. That may sound like a lot of money — and for most Buffalonians it is — but for the four-term mayor of a medium-sized city, it is a[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 30

2020

Podcast: Funding judicial campaigns

Published by

Ken Kruly and Geoff Kelly discuss the self-funding practices of local judicial candidates. They also talk about the latest in the Mark Grisanti saga: an investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Ethics into Grisanti’s handling of a 2018 case argued by attorneys who owed him money.  

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 23

2020

Brown’s prospects for a 5th term as mayor

Published by

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a column that published in the current issue of Buffalo Spree. It wasn’t long after Byron Brown was re-elected to a fourth term that talk started circulating around City Hall of a “Drive for Five.” As in, a fifth term. Talk quieted down, at least until the mayor held a fundraiser Oct. 5 at 500 Pearl Street, owned by none other than Carl Paladino’s Ellicott Development. Tickets started at $600, and a table of 10 cost $10,000 and came with a half-hour of schmooze time with Brown. Does the fundraiser signal the[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 17

2020

Podcast: Williams campaign donations

Published by

Ken Kruly and Geoff Kelly discuss the current topic of Money In Politics, large campaign contributions by Jon, Jerome and Jeffrey Williams of Niagara County. Together, they’re among the largest political donors in Western New York, and they mostly favor Republican candidates and committees.

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 4

2020

Sizing up election results, locally and nationally

Published by

I’m not old enough to remember the Kennedy-Nixon cliffhanger of 1960. Bush-Gore, yes. But as a stomach churner, nothing comes close to the ongoing Biden-Trump election. I think most Democrats and Republicans can agree with that – if nothing else. With that said, let me offer some random notes: It’s mostly overlooked, but worth noting, that Biden won the national popular vote. Just like Hillary Clinton four years ago. And Al Gore back in 2000. The margin of victory for the Democratic candidates this time around is about 3.2 million votes as of this writing. Just saying. Turnout nationally was[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post