The Erie County Republican Committee on Tuesday announced that they have picked businessman Dan Gagliardo as the Republican nominee for the special election next month to fill Sean Ryan’s seat in the New York state Senate.<\/p>\n
Ryan left the 61st state Senate seat officially this week after being sworn in as the new mayor of Buffalo<\/a> on Thursday. A special election to replace him will take place Tuesday, Feb. 3.<\/p>\n The district includes parts of the city of Buffalo, the city of Tonawanda, the towns of Amherst, Grand Island and Tonawanda, as well as the villages of Kenmore and Williamsville.<\/p>\n “While the nominating meeting took place Tuesday at Republican headquarters in Buffalo, the campaign has already hit the ground running, organizing volunteers, engaging voters, and raising the resources necessary to win this critical special election,” the committee said in a release Tuesday.<\/p>\n Gagliardo recently lost his race for Amherst town supervisor in November.<\/p>\n Democratic state Assemblyman Jonathan Rivera<\/a> and\u00a0Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner<\/a> are the Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for the seat. The last day for a party to nominate a candidate is Friday and the last day for an independent candidate to file a nominating petition is Jan. 12.<\/p>\n In special elections for the state Legislature in New York, local party committees designate their nominees. The winner of February’s contest can then be challenged in June in the regularly scheduled primaries.<\/p>\n