Two candidates will appear on the ballot for the position of Erie County Comptroller in the general election Nov. 4. Incumbent Kevin Hardwick is running for a second term on Democratic and Working Families Party lines, while challenger Christine Czarnik is running on Republican and Conservative lines.
The Candidates
Hardwick is the endorsed Democrat and previously served as Erie County Legislator for the Tonawandas and Grand Island. He has taught public policy at Canisius University since 1989. An audit undertaken by Hardwick in his first term as comptroller led to a criminal investigation and the subsequent jailing of former Deputy Erie County Clerk, Alexander McDougall, who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $320,000 in taxpayer money.
Czarnik has over 25 years’ experience as an accountant and small business owner according to her campaign website. The endorsed Republican previously served as town councilor in Summerville, South Carolina - which has a population of 50,000 people - before returning to Western New York in 2020. Her campaign calls for increased transparency by introducing a searchable online portal for county contracts, and canceling the county’s ErieNet project which she says is wasteful.
The cash
The latest campaign disclosures span July 12 through September 29.
Kevin Hardwick: Hardwick has $124,183.49 in campaign funds. $22,749.64 of that was raised in this filing period on top of more than $112,000 raised before that. He spent over $11,000, mainly on signage and services from a local film company.
Hardwick loaned himself $7,500 to fund his campaign.
His disclosures feature the names of area Democrats and allies. His biggest donor is Erie County Democratic Committee Chair Jeremy Zellner, who gave $5,000 through his campaign committee, while Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz gave $1,000 through his. Deputy Comptrollers Mary Hosler and Tim Callan also gave $1,000 apiece.
Other notable donations include $1,000 from East Aurora attorney Gerald Paradise III and $1,075 from the Building Foundation and Landmark Opportunities New York State Political Action Committee (PAC).
A handful of unions have also donated to Hardwick through PACs, including United Steelworkers District 4 which gave $1,000, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 17 with $500 and United Autoworkers Region 9 which donated $500.
Christine Czarnik: Czarnik has $24,132.75 in remaining campaign funds at the time of filing. She raised $19,185 of that in the filing period and spent more than $10,000. A little over $3,000 of that went to a yard sign company.
Her biggest donor is Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, who contributed $5,000 from his campaign committee. That’s followed by two individual donors: Donald Hoffman from Getzville who donated $1,250 and Paul Stephen in Clarence, who gave $1,041.02.
Save New York - a PAC founded by Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to support Republicans in local races – donated $1,000. The same amount came from the Erie County Federation of Republican Women.
Other area-Republicans are on the list: the campaign committees of Congressman Nick Langworthy and former Congressman Chris Jacobs donated $500 and $250 respectively, and former New York Attorney General, Dennis Vacco, makes an appearance with a $500 donation.
The 1791 Society, a gun rights group based in West Seneca, gave $325.
