By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
Aaron Gies of Olean trounced Kevin Stocker of Erie County in the Democratic primary for Congress in the 23rd District Tuesday.
Gies, a St. Bonaventure University theology professor, polled 13,462 votes, or 68.5%, to 5,188, or 26.4% for Stocker.
Gies, who is also running on the Working Families Party line in November, will now focus on U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy of Niagara County, the former New York state GOP chairman who is running for re-election to a third term on the Republican and Conservative lines.
The 23rd District is made up of all of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung and Tioga counties and parts of Erie, Niagara, Schuyler and Steuben counties.
Gies won all nine counties in the 23rd Congressional District. His highest margin came in Allegany County, where he won 86.6 percent of the vote.
Stocker came closest to Gies’ vote count in Erie and Niagara counties, where he received 38.3% and 40.9% of the vote respectively.
Gies won Cattaraugus County 1,209 to 284 or 77.9 to 18.3% for Stocker, and in Allegany County won with 86.6% of the vote 966 to 127.
The other 23rd Congressional District counties’ vote totals are:
- Chautauqua — Gies, 2,118; Stocker, 433.
- Chemung — Gies, 1,596; Stocker, 488.
- Erie — Gies, 4,504; Stocker, 3,113.
- Niagara — Gies, 213; Stocker, 169.
- Schuyler — Gies, 153; Stocker, 50.
- Steuben — Gies, 1,551; Stocker, 326.
- Tioga — Gies, 1,152; Stocker, 198.
There were a total of 19,639 votes cast in the Democratic congressional primary. Besides votes for Gies and Stocker, 888 of the ballots were blank, 51 were void and 50 contained write-ins.
Only about 13.6% of eligible Democratic voters cast votes in the primary.
The two met twice in forums held by the League of Women Voters in Chautauqua and Erie counties.
The key to his victory was likely the number of town halls and forums he held across the district — more than 100 vs. around 20 Stocker conducted.
Gies appeared to have a larger number of volunteers across the district as well.
He said before the primary he wanted a decisive victory over Stocker to send a message to potential donors in the general election against Langworthy, who has a campaign war chest of over $2 million.
Gies spent election day traveling across the district, thanking volunteers and poll workers. He ended the day at a watch party in Erie County where he delivered his victory speech.
“Tonight, we proved that this race has momentum,” said Gies. “That Western New York Democrats have not given in to cynicism. There is a fierce love that still drives us to the streets… to protest, to donate, to canvas, and to vote.”
“We all know what we’re up against,” Said Gies. “The ultra-wealthy in this country control the social media algorithms that keep us angry and divided, the AI data centers sucking up our natural resources and raising our power bills, the crooked politicians getting rich off insider trading, who cut taxes for the wealthy and the corporations they control while they cut Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP and VA benefits.”
“Nick Langworthy works for them. He supports their agenda of extraction. He makes excuses for policies that hurt this district: that hurt farmers, that hurt teachers and students, that hurt seniors, veterans, and small businesses. He takes credit for spending he voted against. He makes unannounced speeches in empty rooms. He sneaks out the back door of his office to avoid hearing the cry of the poor.”
Gies drew a contrast between himself and Langworthy.
“But we are ready for him. We’re ready for Nick Langworthy because we have already rejected a politics that is just a list of what you are Against. We have rejected a politics of endless fighting for the sake of fighting. Buffalo is the City of Good Neighbors and we are the region of good neighbors. When we treat our neighbors like we want to be treated, we all win.”
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