Congresswoman Claudia Tenney facing past foe in Republican primary
0
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Republican voters in New York's re-drawn 24th Congressional District will see a familiar matchup in Tuesday's primary.
Claudia Tenney, who has served two separate terms in Congress since 2017, will rematch against attorney and businessman Mario Fratto, who she beat two years ago in the Republican primary with just under 54% of the vote.
The district was re-drawn for 2022 and takes up parts of Niagara County, as well as Orleans, Wyoming and Genesee counties, among other areas across central and northern New York.
Tenney has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, and recently wrote a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul asking her to pardon the former president following his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial.
"I've been a lawyer, a partner at my law firm, I ran our family business, we still have our family business," Tenney said at a rally in Lockport on Monday. "I served in the legislature and now I'm doing this because I believe so much in our country and we need to take our country back."
According to his website, Fratto is "fighting for term limits, parental rights, traditional values, religious freedom, securing our border and against all mandates," and added "we can defeat the DC cartel and finally give power back to the people as our founders intended."
Tenney was first elected to Congress in 2016 and served one term before being defeated by Democrat Anthony Brindisi in 2018, later beating him in a 2020 rematch by just over 100 votes in a tight race. She beat Democrat Steven Holden in 2022.
The presumptive Democratic nominee is Waterloo newcomer David Wagenhauser, although the district leans heavy red.
Longtime assemblyman faces challenger in 147th district
In the New York State Assembly, longtime East Aurora Republican David DiPietro is facing a challenge in the primary in Erie County Sheriff's Office chief Mitch Martin.
The 64-year-old DiPietro has been a member of the State Assembly since 2013 in the 147th district, which includes most of Southern Erie County as well as Wyoming County.
According to Martin's LinkedIn page, he was a community representative for State Senator Pat Gallivan from 2012-2020, served as the director of community relations for former Congressman Chris Jacobs in 2020 and 2021 and was the campaign manager for Sheriff John Garcia's successful re-election campaign in 2021.
"I am running to bring new opportunity, growth, and prosperity to our region, one you and I both know is primed for excellence," a statement on Martin's campaign website reads. "The 147th District has unfortunately been neglected for the past decade. Besides social media bluster and voting no on anything and everything - our current representation is nowhere to be found. They aren’t out in our communities and they aren’t securing tangible results to set our region up for success."
Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.