By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
Two Democrats filed nominating petitions last week to force a primary in the 23rd Congressional District, while incumbent Rep. Nick Langworthy’s Republican challenger failed in his bid to get on a GOP primary ballot.
Olean Democrat Aaron Gies and Buffalo attorney Kevin Stocker each filed nominating petitions with the New York State Board of Elections in the 23rd Congressional District.
Gies, a St. Bonaventure University associate professor in the Franciscan Studies Department, has also filed petitions to appear on the Working Families Party line in the November mid-term elections.
Gies said he filed petitions with more than 8,000 signatures, nearly six times the number necessary, while Stocker said he submitted nearly 2,000 signatures. Congressional candidates on major parties are required to have at least signatures from at least 1,250 registered voters in their party.
Stocker’s social media posts show him criticizing Gies as a former Republican. He also said he “took on the religious institutions that were covering up sex abuse of children” and asked what Gies has done “to stand up at the institution you are employed by?” He also said that Gies was a registered Republican until just two years ago. Stocker switched parties from Republican to Democrat in 2016.
On the Republican side, Jim King, a retired engineer from Owego, reported over the weekend that he failed to garner enough signatures to force a GOP congressional primary against Langworthy, a two-term representative and former GOP state chairman from Niagara County.
Instead, King, a self-described moderate Republican, said he hopes to mount a write-in campaign for the June 23 primary. He said he’s targeting “registered Republicans who have been embarrassed by the national party and the incumbent they sent to Congress four years ago.”
First, he must obtain the signatures of 1,250 registered Republicans and file them with the state Board of Elections by April 16. If a sufficient number of eligible signatures were included, it could force a GOP primary with a write-in opportunity King is looking for.
Langworthy’s campaign said last week his nominating petitions would be delivered to Albany before the Monday deadline.
The 23rd District includes five counties and parts of four others. All of Cattaraugus, Allegany, Chautauqua Chemung and Tioga counties are in the district, plus parts of Erie, Niagara, Steuben and Schuyler counties.
As of February, enrolled Republicans comprised 209,390 of the voters in the district as compared to 144,342 for Democrats. There were 14,821 Conservatives, 2,837 Working Families Party members, 19,318 for other parties, and 132,176 blank or unaffiliated with any political party.
