It was widely reported that County Clerk Chris Jacobs declined to run for County Executive based on the supposed strength of the incumbent’s poll numbers. That remains a point of dispute among political operatives.
As the late great Steve Jobs would often say, “how do consumers know what they want when I haven’t shown them yet?” In the same vain, some operatives ask, “how can voters know what they need when you haven’t told them yet?”
But a rumor is emerging that upends all that speculation. Jacobs declined to run — not because of his hesitance to challenge Poloncarz, who many view as weak and over confident — but because Jacobs’ poll numbers are surprisingly strong in a matchup with Congressman Brian Higgins, the rumor goes.
Jacobs is known to have long had his eye on Congress — something that most observers view as well within his grasp. Higgins’ popularity has waned in recent years. Kathy Weppner, whose sometimes unpolished views positioned her far to the right of Higgins, was able to easily earn 30% of the vote in a heavily Democrat enrolled district, despite spending next to nothing and having no tangible support from the county GOP.
A moderate with lots of friends on both sides of the isle, access to enormous resources, and one of the most extensive social networks in Western New York could easily perform twice as strongly as Weppner, says a source who works for county government.
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