BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Carl Paladino has released a statement on the Republican primary for NY's 23rd Congressional District saying in part "it is time to move onto the next chapter of my life."
Paladino faced off against Nick Langworthy in the primary on Tuesday. Around midnight Langworthy declared victory although Paladino would not concede and released a statement that said in part "we want every single legal vote to count."
Around 12:34 a.m. Wednesday, the Associated Press declared Langworthy the winner.
BREAKING: Nick Langworthy wins Republican nomination for U.S. House in New York's 23rd Congressional District. #APRaceCall at 12:34 a.m. EDT. https://t.co/2nlgpjzI1K
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) August 24, 2022
Wednesday afternoon Paladino issued an updated statement:
“I am truly blessed with the greatest family and friends in the world. Western New York is my home, and I am humbled by the voters who turned out to support me. My story is proof that the American dream is possible. I want to personally thank Assemblyman David DiPietro, Rob Astorino, Tim Howard, and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik for their friendship and support during this race. I also want to thank my staff and the hundreds of volunteers who helped my campaign. It is time to move onto the next chapter of my life. I am forever grateful for this community. I will always advocate for Western New York."
With 99% of precincts reporting, Langworthy led with 52% of the vote (24,275) over Paladino with 48% of the vote (22,283).
“Tonight the southern tier made me come back kid,” declared Nick Langworthy.
As a republican chair first in Erie County and now state-wide, Langworthy has been behind the elections of GOP candidates for years, and now he is celebrating his own political victory after defeating Carl Paladino to be the Republican nominee for New York’s 23rd congressional district.
Langworthy, a Jamestown native, captured significant support in the Southern Tier.
“I think there were a lot of people in the Buffalo orbit that totally mischaracterize and generalized the mindset of a voter in the Southern Tier. They are conservative in their politics. They want to fight for traditional values and but they want someone who is going to bring some dignity to the office,” explained Langworthy.
While Paladino fared well here in Erie County he wasn't able to convince those outlying counties that it was “Carl Country."
“He may have also relied on the fact that the six rural districts were Trump country. I mean Donald Trump won those six counties in 2020 with 62 percent of the vote,” remarked Carl Calabrese, political expert.
Calabrese calls Langworthy's win in the Southern Tier “stunning”.
“Just about every political pro I talked to thought that Paladino would do very, very well in the rural counties and Langworthy would do very well in Erie County and it was absolutely flipped on its head,” replied Calabrese.
Langworthy declared victory Tuesday night, while Paladino avoided supporters at his own watch party in Orchard Park. He stayed hidden and was later whisked away to avoid reporters.
But by Tuesday afternoon, the Paladino campaign issued this statement clearly indicating defeat and conceding to the race.
Breaking: It appears @CarlPaladinoNY is conceding. @WKBW just receiving a statement from Paladino. It reads in part:
— Eileen Buckley (@eileenwkbw) August 24, 2022
“It is time to move onto the next chapter of my life. I am forever grateful for this community. I will always advocate for Western New York." @NickLangworthy pic.twitter.com/F5RWAqKKJz
And while Langworthy says he is someone who can bring dignity to the office, it was this comment during Tuesday's victory speech that's raising some eyebrows.
“When you confront a bully, you punch him in the face, and you take him down a peg,” stated Langworthy, during his victory speech.
I asked him about this specifically during my one-on-one interview with him.
“I’m not someone that uses violent rhetoric. I don't play to extremes, but I think it was a little bit of a metaphor for the kind of campaign that we had and I look not too dwell on what was a divisive primary,” responded Langworthy.
Langworthy says the primary is now in the “rear view” now in behind him and he's ready for his November face-off against Democrat Max Della Pia.
“I think people are generally tired of the polarization and the poking each other in the eye — I think they're really sick of it,” reflected Della Pia.
Della Pia is a Tioga County resident. He's a retired air force colonel and attorney. He says he's ready to roll up his sleeves and make sure the very rural district gives people access to a number of things including quality health care, crucial broadband access, and jobs.
“I can divide it up into three things; economic resilience and job creation — very important, also I think we need to be aware of our environment. I think that is an issue that is on a lot of people's minds and we need to have equity,” Della Pia described.
Both Della Pia and Langworthy have never held political office, but both say they are ready to listen to the voters.
