BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After declaring his candidacy earlier this month, Nate McMurray announced Monday that he will not continue running for Erie County Executive.
McMurray made the announcement in a lengthy thread on Twitter saying in part:
"OPEN LETTER: WILL NOT CONTINUE CAMPAIGN; WILL FIGHT OTHER FIGHTS
Dear friends,
I have decided not to continue running for Erie County Executive. Please let me explain why."
He continues on in the thread to list why he has decided not to continue running.
"So why aren’t I running? I have this vison, this passion. Well, let me state clearly as I always do (without political double speak). I can’t beat Mark in this system. Maybe better said, I can’t beat his machine.
You could take him out, and plug in any other cog into that machine, and I wouldn’t be able to beat that cog either. The machine works (for now). And it’s scary.
Over the last few weeks, as I spoke out against Poloncarz, dozens of people came up to me, cheering me on.
It reminded of why I love politics, the change it can create. But in this race, no matter what we do, how much money we raise, I’m not confident that we will even get on the ballot against this machine.
Indeed, Mark Poloncarz is the machine in Erie County.
Literally half the Democratic heads (maybe more) work directly for Chairman Zellner or Poloncarz. This creates a pall of fear that stifles what would otherwise be normal, common, American political debate. No one in local politics wants to offend the machine."
- Nate McMurray
You can read the full thread here.
McMurray's announcement comes hours after Chrissy Casilio was introduced as the Republican candidate and about 10 days after current Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced his plans to run for reelection.
