Pat Burke is seriously considering a run for Erie County executive

Assembly Member Pat Burke has confirmed that he is seriously considering entering the wide open 2027 race to succeed four-term Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

Burke’s interest in the county executive’s office has become well known in Erie County Democratic circles as the South Buffalo native seeks to position himself for the Democratic nomination. Burke said his tenure as an Erie County legislator showed him “the vehicle” that county government can be.

“The Democrats were the minority at the time, and I was able to get significant legislation done,” he said of his tenure in the county legislature. “I got the first microbeads plastic ban in the country done through there, one of the first conversion therapy bans in the country done out of there. I was able to get some impactful policy done.”

Burke would be entering what could be the first contested Democratic primary for Erie County executive in two decades. Poloncarz, a former county comptroller, was the Democratic front-runner in the 2011 contest to oppose then-Republican County Executive Chris Collins, particularly after Gov. Kathy Hochul, then the Erie County clerk, chose to successfully seek an open congressional seat.

Lobbyist Jack O’Donnell said that Burke’s political track record in winning competitive races in South Buffalo and several suburban communities south of Buffalo could translate well in a countywide race.

“Pat has been a winner at all the races he’s run, whether that was county legislature, getting elected to the state Assembly and staying there, even though his last couple races have been close, and he’s had strong challenges,” O’Donnell told City & State. “You know, Assembly Member Burke has always found a way to come out ahead, and so I think he has to be looked at as a real contender for any countywide office.”

Burke is far from the only candidate who could enter the race. On the Democratic side, O’Donnell said Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera, a popular former county legislator from northern Buffalo suburbs, has been discussed as a possible Poloncarz successor, along with Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick, who did not rule out a 2027 county executive run during his successful reelection campaign this year. Hardwick is a former Republican who switched parties several years ago while serving in the county legislature from the northern suburbs of Buffalo. Hardwick is also a longtime political science professor at Canisius University.

“He went out of his way to not say that he was a candidate, but that he wouldn’t say ‘no’ to being a candidate,” O’Donnell said of Hardwick.

On the Republican side, O’Donnell mentioned West Seneca Supervisor Gary Dickson, former Rep. Chris Jacobs and Hamburg Town Board Member-elect Lynne Dixon as potential county executive candidates. Dickson was the Republican congressional nominee in last year’s special election against now-Rep. Tim Kennedy, in which Dickson bolstered his name recognition countywide and within GOP circles.

Jacobs, a former Erie County clerk and state senator, served two and a half years in Congress as a moderate Republican before leaving following backlash from conservative Republicans over his support of a federal assault weapons ban. The Jacobs family is one of the most powerful in the Buffalo region. Dixon, a former TV news reporter in Buffalo and longtime county legislator, was the Republicans’ unsuccessful nominee for county executive in 2019 and county comptroller in 2021. Dixon worked for a year on Jacobs’ congressional staff.

Burke, the Assembly Cities Committee chair, acknowledged that he does not know who will be in the field, but said he believes he can run a competitive campaign for county executive.

“There’s certainly a few people out there. But as far as being an Assembly member and a county legislator of the county that I’ve represented, the amount of media I’ve had, the relationships I’ve built, my accomplishments, I would feel really confident going into that race,” Burke said. “Yeah, I feel quite good about it.”