Questions are mounting about both the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and local Democratic leadership.
A new report finds Sheriff John Garcia may not have properly filed his oath of office — and another draws questions about the political battle lines being drawn among Erie County Democrats.
The reporting from the Investigative Post centers on whether Sheriff John Garcia and his undersheriff properly filed their required oaths of office with the county clerk. Garcia’s office said the paperwork was sent through intra-office mail, but the clerk said there’s no record of it. The issue has since drawn criticism from State Senator Jeremy Zellner.
"I have some serious concerns about a clear pattern of issues that are coming out of the sheriff's office," Zellner said.
That criticism of Garcia by Zellner sparked a curiosity for investigative journalist Charlie Specht on his Substack reporting project.
After fielding unsuccessful candidates for Erie County Sheriff in 2017 and 2021, Erie County Democrats left the 2025 re-election race for Garcia uncontested.
Zellner was, as he is now and since 2012, the Erie County Democratic Committee chairman. Specht said he did some digging into campaign donation filings, especially around the time of the DJ Granville scandal becoming public in March 2025. Granville was the Erie County Sheriff’s chief who was behind the wheel of a county-owned vehicle in a series of late night crashes.
"It did come at kind of strange timing," Specht told BTPM NPR. "Because they were getting petitions ready in February, the scandal broke in March, but that didn't prevent him from about a month after the Democrats decided they're not going to run someone against Garcia, the Republican Sheriff Garcia then donated $5,000 from his campaign account into Jeremy Zellner's campaign account. Zellner for chair of Erie County Democratic Committee."
Why would a top Republican official donate thousands of dollars to the leader of the opposing party?
"You know, [Garcia] supported me. He supported my campaign committee," Zellner told BTPM NPR when asked. "The check in [Garcia's] group came in after the fact that petitions were already on the street and after the fact that the whole process was, you know, basically over for the nominations for that year. So you know, I, I was happy to take the resources."
A spokesperson for Garcia did not respond to BTPM NPR's request for comment.
Assemblyman Jon Rivera has stood by and defended the Erie County Democratic Committee through criticism over the years, including in the endorsement process for now Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan. Rivera is running against Zellner now in the primary for the 61st State Senate district. He said, the political lines are blurring.
"When voters aren't given a choice, when people and the public are not engaged, they're not going to feel like they're part of the process," Rivera said. "And why do you think we have low voter turnout? It's because of things like this. And we're living in an era where we want our Democrats to be Democrats, and I imagine Republicans want their Republicans to be Republican."
Zellner said he tried to recruit former Buffalo Police Commissioner Joe Gramaglia for sheriff, and even Rivera’s father, David, a retired police officer and Buffalo Common Council member. Both turned it down, and he claims at the time Garcia seemed unbeatable.
"Based on all the polling we had, he was the most popular countywide official in Erie County," said Zellner. "And at the time he was running, he had a half million dollars in the bank, and at the time he was running, he didn't have any scandals."
Is this a new rift in local Democratic politics? Specht said there’s always been factions, but a string of longtime incumbents leaving office early has set off tensions into the public eye.
"One decision or departure at the top, it really creates all of these other consequences that we're seeing right now," he said. "I would say this is probably not something new, but people tend to scramble for those positions in those seats, because they don't come around very often, and people see an opportunity and they want to go for it. And sometimes, in politics, that does get a little messy."
Zellner defended his decision to hold public office during his chairmanship. First as Erie County Board of Elections commissioner, and now as elected state senator.
"I wasn't going to, not run for office because I happen to be a leader of the Democratic Party," he said. "I think in fact it only adds to what I can accomplish in Albany, and what I can accomplish for our community as well."
