Endorsement for State Senate
Kevin Stocker served as Town Prosecutor for over 15 years in the Town of Tonawanda and Village of Kenmore, putting criminals in jail and keeping his community safe. He is a graduate of Kenmore East High School and still lives in his hometown with his wife and two young children.
Stocker is leading in recent polling and is expected to win the 60th district State Senate seat — a remarkable feat for anyone, especially considering the huge sums of special interest money that have been dumped into the race in support of his opponents, Democrat Marc Panepinto has received the backing of the New York State Union of Teachers (NYSUT) to the tune of $600,000; and Independent Mark Grisanti has received the backing of The League of Conservation Voters, a front group funded by billionaire Mike Bloomberg.
This combination of circumstances is what makes Stockers’ candidacy so attractive to average voters. He is the unbought underdog fighting a David versus Goliath matchup against the Teacheers’ unions and New York billionaire bankers –the State’s two most powerful special interests.
Stocker’s campaign on the other hand is almost entirely self funded. He got a mortgage on his house to pay for it.
And when a New York City based group that advocates for charter schools funded a $27,000 mailer to district voters, Stocker disavowed the mailer and the spending because Stocker refuses to accept or benefit from special interest money. That’s a politician who is serious about campaign finance reform.
When Rus Thompson, who leads the local Tea Party movement, aired an independent campaign ad endorsing Stocker, he disavowed that spending too. “My bosses are the voters. I don’t want the support of any political bosses,” he said.
Stocker has already shown voters that he is not for sale, and will refuse the puppet masters who will inevitably solicit him in the cesspool of political prostitution that we call the New York State Senate.
Independence like that doesn’t come along often — so when it does, voters should pounce on the opportunity. In many ways, Stocker has become the change that voters want to see in the world.
That’s what will make a Senator Stocker so transformative in Albany. His supporters say that they see him as a potential Governor in the mold of Theodore Roosevelt. Others say he’s a more likely Attorney General. They see him as an Independent Republican who wants to aggressively solve problems and end a culture of corruption.
“He’s a middle of the road Republican whose looking out for the little guy,” a supporter told me. “The way that they used to be.”
The Buffalo Chronicle strongly endorses Mr. Stocker.
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