Nick Langworth, Carl Paladino (photo credit – Wikipedia)

WIVB is reporting that State GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy is running for the 23rd Congressional district.

The Buffalo TV station said sources confirmed that Langworthy is entering the race as Chris Jacobs’ substitution. A substitution can occur when there is a declination by another candidate.
Langworthy’s name will be on both the Republican and Conservative lines. Because of Jacobs’ declination, Langworthy does not need the required signatures typically needed to get on the ballot in a primary.

Jacobs’ decision not to run came after recent comments he made regarding gun laws that received extreme pushback from fellow Republicans.

Carl Paladino announced his run Friday in response to Chris Jacobs ending his bid to stay in the House.
Tompkins County legislator Mike Sigler previously said he would enter the race, but told WIVB on Friday that he would be stepping aside to put his support behind Langworthy.

Former Tom Reed staffer, Joe Sempolinski, stated on Twitter that he is only running in the Special Election to fill out the remaining term of his former boss. He said he has not made an endorsement for the primary yet.

Representation of the 23rd Congressional District is up for grabs following the resignation of Congressman Tom Reed last month. He had announced more than a year ago that he would not be seeking another term, following an allegation of sexual misconduct by a lobbyist.

The Republican primary election will take place August 23.

Carl Paladino statement on Twitter announcing candidacy for 23rd Congressional District

Buffalo businessman and one-time candidate for governor, Carl Paladino, has entered the race for the 23rd Congressional District.

The Republican announced on Twitter that he has enough petitions to qualify for the Republican and Conservative lines in addition to having $500,000 cash on hand for the campaign.

Paladino announced on Friday he’d run if Congressman Chris Jacobs stepped down from the race. Jacobs abandoned his re-election campaign after expressing support for a federal assault weapons ban, which received intense backlash from GOP leaders.

Governor Kathy Hochul officially declared that special elections to fill the vacancies in the 19th and 23rd Congressional Districts will be held on Tuesday, August 23. The special elections will fill the vacancies created by the resignations of Antonio Delgado, who is now the state’s Lieutenant Governor; and Tom Reed.

A primary will be held the same day for the 23rd District. Other Republicans had previously announced they planned to run in the new district including State Republican Party Chair Nick Langworthy.

Democrat Max Della Pia will be that party’s candidate in the special election and in the general election should no other Democrat step forward to force a primary.

The deadline to file petitions to run in the special election is Friday, June 10.

Chris Jacobs, Max Della Pia

The new congressional maps approved by a Stueben County State Supreme Court Judge boosts Republican odds of capturing more seats in the U.S. House in November’s midterm elections.

Reuters reports Judge Patrick McAllister signed off on the map just before midnight on Friday, weeks after New York’s top court ruled that the redistricting plan passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature was unconstitutionally manipulated to benefit the party.

The Democratic map would likely have given the party control of 22 of the state’s 26 congressional seats this fall, serving to counterbalance similarly partisan maps passed in Republican-dominated states such as Florida, Georgia and Texas.

Republicans need to flip only five seats in November to win a majority in the House, which would enable them to block much of President Joe Biden‘s agenda.

Court-appointed special master Jonathan Cervas, who drew the new map, said in a court filing that his plan creates eight competitive districts, along with 15 Democratic-leaning seats and three Republican-leaning seats.

The new map represents a bitterly disappointing outcome for Democrats, who used their legislative majorities to push through an aggressive gerrymander. But after Republicans sued, the courts ruled that the Democratic map ran afoul of a 2014 constitutional amendment aimed at removing partisanship from redistricting.

Cervas said he had reviewed thousands of comments since the release of a draft version on Monday and made some changes, including reuniting several Black communities and Asian American communities in New York City that he had originally split.

The new 23rd District, that includes Chautauqua County, stretches from Erie to Schuyler and Chemung Counties.

Current 27th District Representative Republican Chris Jacobs of Orchard Park announced he would be running in the new 23rd district. He has been endorsed by the Erie County Republican Committee. State Senator George Borrello who had considered running in the special election to fill out the term of Representative Tom Reed, issued a statement offering Jacobs his “strongest support.”

Jacobs was first elected in 2020 and currently serves on the House Agriculture Committee, the House Budget Committee, and the House Education and Labor Committee.

For the Democrats, Max Della Pia announced Friday he is running for the special election for the 23rd Congressional District. He had previously announced his candidacy for the November midterms in the new district.

Della Pia was unanimously endorsed by the Democratic Committee Chairs from each of the counties in the district. He is a former Senate Liaison Officer for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

The resignation of Republican Representative Tom Reed on May 10 triggered the need to fill the vacancy with a special election. Former Reed staff member, Joe Sempolinski, announced that same day he would be running on the Republican line for that special election.

The date for the election has yet to be announced but will be held sometime between July 20 and August 8 prior to the primary date for the new Congressional districts on August 23.

In a post on social media, Borrello claims the idea that wind turbines are ‘clean and green’ renewable energy is a myth, adding that the reality is that the intermittent nature of industrial wind turbines requires them to be backed up by fossil fuel.

“New York is now importing power from the dirtiest coal plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania creating a net negative impact on greenhouse emissions and pollution. Yet, the State continues to support and subsidize these projects with taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Borrello also said he is a fierce opponent of wind farms, including the latest proposal by Diamond Offshore Winds, which would place up to 50 turbines in Lake Erie.

“Serious environmental concerns have been raised, including potential harm to water quality (11 million people rely on Lake Erie for their drinking water!) as well as the spread of toxic algae from changing wind patterns. That is why I am co-sponsoring a bill with my Western New York colleague, Senator Chris Jacobs, that would establish a moratorium on the construction or placement of wind turbines in any New York State freshwater body,” Borrello wrote.

Borrello is asking residents who agree with him to sign a petition in support of his proposed moratorium.