BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — As County Executive Mark Poloncarz runs this year for an unprecedented fourth term, he offered a firm promise on Thursday, that there won’t be a fifth.
Speaking to reporters at an event in Colden, the Democrat volunteered that should he defeat Republican Chrissy Casilio in November, he will leave county government when his term expires in 2027.
“If you give me the opportunity to serve one more term,” Poloncarz said, “this will be the last time I run for county executive.”
Poloncarz seems to be recognizing a basic force in politics, “shelf life.” Especially for those in executive positions, a fourth or even a third four-year term often proves problematic for voters seeking change. In Erie County, only the late Dennis Gorski (the only other Democrat to hold the office of county executive) ever competed for a fourth term and he was defeated in 1999 by Republican Joel Giambra.
Now the incumbent seems to be recognizing, possibly from his own internal polling, the need to address a potentially thorny issue. Casilio has repeatedly blasted his long tenure in the Rath County Office Building, which dates to his election as comptroller in 2007. She has called for change in a race with signs of becoming more competitive, even in a county with about 135,000 more Democrats than Republicans.
Poloncarz now puts to rest any notion that he will run for county office again in an attempt to at least lessen the shelf life issue’s impact.
