Author: Ken Kruly

Ken has been a very active community participant in the world of politics for nearly 50 years. Everything from envelope stuffing to campaign management. From the local council level to presidential campaigns. On the Democratic side. A whole lot of politicians worked for, fought against, had a beer with. Now, "mostly" retired, Ken continues to have a great interest in government and politics on the local, state and federal levels. His blog, politicsandstuff.com provides weekly commentary and opinions about policy, budgeting, candidacies, and analysis of public issues. 

Sometimes major problems for governments come at them out of nowhere like a punch in the gut. Pearl Harbor; 9/11; COVID. Recovery is hard and speed is of the essence. Then there are problems that grow even though they don’t look menacing and unmanageable. Such matters are often handled tentatively or not at all. The towns of Amherst, Cheektowaga, and the City of Buffalo come to mind. Part of the explanation for why property taxes in Amherst are 11 percent higher in 2024 appears to be a lack of serious long-term planning. For many years taxes were not increased and…

Read More

Since the 2024 presidential election is likely to be a re-run of the Biden/Trump election in 2020, it might be helpful for political aficionados to take a look back at what happened that year. Spoiler alert: Biden won handily in Erie County and in New York State. Turnout was pretty good. Nationally, of course, the presidential election in 2020 was hotly contested. Election officials, including Republicans, pretty much everywhere agreed that the elections were free and fair and that Joe Biden’s winning margins, particularly in battleground states, were accurate. Presidential elections usually produce the largest voter turnouts in the four-year…

Read More

We now have the official lineup for the special election on April 30 in NY26. State Senator Tim Kennedy is the candidate of the Democratic and Working Families parties. West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson carries the banner of the Republican and Conservative parties. The special election will be run in the district boundaries drawn by the court-appointed special master in 2022. The Independent Redistricting Commission’s new lines will likely soon be tweaked by the state Legislature to serve as the new districts for the primary and general elections later this year. If there was to be an independent candidate…

Read More

One of the most difficult and awkward chores in a political campaign is about to get easier for some candidates in New York.  If they are eligible and can decipher the complexities of a new system, some state legislative candidates are going to be able to fatten up their campaign treasuries with public dollars.The state Legislature in 2020 approved a system for public campaign financing and created a new bureaucracy to administer the program.  The Public Campaign Financing Board (PCFB) has published procedures and has been conducting training sessions with candidates and campaign committee treasurers.  The first checks will be…

Read More

It’s off to the races in this year’s congressional elections. The only problem is no one knows what their districts will look like. When we last left this story, the New York Court of Appeals had determined that the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) should update their work to set the lines for the districts that would be used from 2024 through 2030. They would report the plans and the state Legislature would have the option of accepting or rejecting the new districts. The problem is that we are now into February. Nominating petitions for congressional, state legislative, and local…

Read More

Western New York seems to like congressional elections. We like it so much that sometimes we do it three times in a congressional election year. Consider the case of NY23 in its present design and its linear predecessors, a district which in the 2010s became like the Bermuda triangle of congressional districts. Max McCarthy held the seat for three terms in the sixties. After Jack Kemp held the seat for 18 years Bill Paxon was elected. He was a rising star in the House Republican caucus until he wasn’t and left Congress unexpectedly after five terms. Paxon was succeeded by…

Read More

We have arrived at the height of interest in pro football, the playoffs. Go Bills! Many fans live or die with the success or failure of their team but most folks can settle into waiting for the next opponent or next season if things don’t go their way for the team. The sun will come up tomorrow. But another growing approach to sports enthusiasm is upon us: mobile sports wagering (MSW). The state Gaming Commission reports that “more than 5.6 million unique sports betting accounts have been created since [the mobile sports wagering] launch in January 2022.” Those account holders can place…

Read More

The widely anticipated DeSantis-Haley debate is just a day away! Followed next week by the Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa! Try to contain your excitement. Here are some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets concerning government and politics: Something less than 200,000 Iowans will participate in the Republican presidential caucus next week. It is a state with less than one percent of the nation’s population and its demographics are hardly representative of the United States. Interesting fact: the winner of the Republican caucus in Iowa has won the party nomination in less than half of the elections dating back to 1972. Iowa…

Read More

Are you ready for some football? How about those Buffalo Bills? Left for dead at the bye week by many (including me), they are now just one win away from the AFC East title and claiming the second seed in the playoff derby! Okay, enough with the fun stuff. Are you ready for a crazy, out-of-control political year? 2024 will be like no other election year in this country’s history. The presidential campaign will be a fight between maintaining democracy and setting up an autocratic regime. You will be overwhelmed with national reporting on the subject. This humble blog will…

Read More

For those so inclined, hopefully you have begun or maybe you have even finished your Christmas shopping. If not, better hurry up! On the subject of upcoming deadlines, there are important events and deadlines in the political world of Western New York, New York State, and throughout the United States. Here are some things that will be coming at you in the first half of 2024: Petitioning for New York presidential party delegate candidates began on December 12th. What a great time of the year to circulate petitions, which must be filed by January 18. The Court of Appeals has ruled that…

Read More