Has it begun? Maybe.
There are some little telltale signs that steps are being taken, plans are being made. A campaign, of course, depends are who is running.
In the year or two prior to the last Buffalo mayoral election in 2021 there was considerable conversation among politicos about whether the then four-term incumbent, Byron Brown, would run for an unprecedented fifth term. “Strive for five” was the slogan that was being mentioned. Then it wasn’t just a slogan: he was running again.
New York is kicking off the operation of its new Public Campaign Financing Program (PCFP), which is intended to make it easier for new candidates for the state Legislature and those with limited resources to run their campaigns. A previous post explained the mechanics of the program (New York State is about to start providing money to run political campaigns. How will that work in practice? | Politics and Other Stuff (politicsandstuff.com).
A total of 329 incumbent and non-incumbent candidates for the Legislature applied to participate in the program by the deadline of February 26. Fifteen active candidates in Western New York are participating, which is six more than this blog previously reported. One other potential local participant, Joe Flatley, ended his campaign in February after raising $3,760 and spending $3,573.
Politics and Other Stuff 