By a more than 85 percent vote in his favor, Jeremy Zellner has been re-elected chair of the Erie County Democratic Committee.
The vote to give Zellner two more years came as part of the local party’s biennial reorganization meeting, held Saturday in Amherst. He turned back challenges by Amherst Town Councilmember John Davis and Erie County Legislator Jeanne Vinal.
Numerous speakers, including Congressman Tim Kennedy and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, threw their support behind Zellner and say the party’s priority is to get Kathy Hochul re-elected as governor in November. Hochul is being challenged by Republican candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
In addition to his role as the Erie County Democratic Committee chair, Zellner is serving the remaining months of his abbreviated term as State Senator. He had been elected to replace Sean Ryan, who vacated the seat to become Mayor of Buffalo, but in his attempt to win a full term was defeated by Jonathan Rivera in this June’s primary election.
Earlier in the week, Michael Kracker was re-elected as chair of the Erie County Republican Committee. Unlike Zellner, Kracker had the full support of the local GOP, who voted unanimously to award him another term.
Other officers, including first vice chair Robin Sion, second vice chair John Schmidt, were also re-elected to their positions with ease.
In addition to chairing the Erie County GOP, Kracker serves as Upstate Vice Chair of the New York Republican State Committee and is Chief of Staff for State Senator Robert Ortt.
The Erie County GOP, under Kracker’s leadership, is claiming an increase in party enrollment by more than 13,000 voters over the past four years.