Politics Now

Check out Bob McCarthy's column from today, with news on Byron Brown, Steve Casey and Jeremy Zellner, as well as Mark Poloncarz, Frank Max, Chris Collins and Kathy Hochul.

Notes from Erie County’s political trail – this time, from the meeting inside the Hearthstone Manor on Saturday, at which Jeremy Zellner was elected the Dems' new county chairman (the vote is now being challenged in court by Frank Max, his opponent) – include some funny moments, too.

The top three humorous moments from Saturday’s 4-hour-long conclave of local Dems?

It’s wholly unofficial, of course. But here are the picks of one observer:

1.) At the beginning of the lengthy session, at which more than 1,000 Democratic committee men and women packed into a ballroom at the Depew banquet facility, paper ballots were distributed.

To use the ballots as anonymous votes, the papers had to be separated into two parts.

“There are SCISSORS up here,” one party official told the multitude. “They are NOT meant to be used as weapons.”

Um, good to know…

Continue reading "Funny moments from the Democrats' meeting..." »

Jeremy J. Zellner takes the stage after being elected chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party during a meeting at Hearthstone Manor in Depew on Saturday. (Derek Gee / Buffalo News)

Jeremy Zellner expects he'll be working a lot of nights and weekends.

Zellner, elected chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party on Saturday, said he's still working out the details of how he'll juggle his new responsibilities along with his county job as chief of staff for the Legislature Democrats.

"Right now, we're headed toward budget season, and it's going to be really busy at the Legislature," Zellner said. "So I don't plan on making any moves any time soon. That would be leaving them shorthanded."

Zellner, who has worked for the Legislature since January, said he expects to set a regular lunch hour in which he can stop at Democratic headquarters. He expects to handle much of the party work on nights and weekends.

Continue reading "Zellner to stay in County Legislature job full time" »