House Speaker Paul Ryan had a successful fund-raiser last night, sponsored by Congressman Chris Collins. While he did not speak publicly during the brief visit, he reportedly raised $250,000.
The speaker is on a long series of fund-raisers for Team Ryan which is behind his quest to keep the House majority. He's scheduled to make another appearance in Rochester this morning.
Collins says the Ryan appearance raised around a quarter of a million dollars from around 100 ticket purchasers.
Pharmacist and pharmacies owner Steve Giroux was among the attendees. He says his industry is looking for passage of a bill backed by a majority of members of both houses of Congress.
"Pharmacists are under-utilized, widely distributed, readily accessible. You don't need an appointment to come see us," Giroux said.
"It's a great opportunity for patients to kind of connect their care. When pharmacists are empowered to collaborate with physicians, to better manage at least the medications side of the therapy, we're going to deliver a better outcome."
Giroux says he's been a national leader in the push for Congress to expand the role of pharmacists.
Niagara County Republican Chairman Scott Kiedrowski was there. He's backing both a continuing Republican majority the House of Representatives and Donald Trump for president.
"He (Trump) has many points of view and many good ideas. It's just a matter of which ones I think this region would adhere to. He certainly has a lot to say about a lot of things. So, in the end we all know the people decide who the next president will be and certainly we hope it's Mr. Trump," Kiedrowski said.
Trump's status was a topic of discussion following the event. Collins dismissed polling that shows support sliding for the Republican nominee.
"You can't poll what's going on in people's heads any more. You can't poll the likely voters or the turnout model which is what happened with the Brexit vote in the EU," Collins said.
"So, I don't put any faith in any polls whatsoever, as we've seen through the presidential and in Europe recently. I think it's just going to be a nail-biter come Election Night."
In a statement from Ryan political spokesman Zack Roday, he says raising money is part of the job as speaker. The funds will support the effort to hold the Republican majority and help other party candidates around the nation.
