The political season is starting to heat up, with Erie County Democrats looking for opponents to contest two major incumbents. The marquee races this year are for sheriff and county comptroller, with Sheriff Tim Howard seeking another term and Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw seeking a full term.
Democrats don't have any announced comptroller candidates, but they have two seeking the nod for sheriff: Sheriff's Lieutenant Bert Dunn and retired Lieutenant Richard Dobson. There may be a primary between the two in September.
Democratic County Chairman Jeremy Zellner says the party is closer to selecting candidates.
"I think we're going to be filling both seats relatively, probably in the next two or three weeks. But, we're still searching for candidates for comptroller. It looks like we have a strong couple of candidates for sheriff," Zellner says.
Zellner says both comptroller and sheriff races are likely to be expensive. He says what happens in the two races largely depends whether or not Republican Sergio Rodriguez is on the ballot for Buffalo mayor against Byron Brown, a contest likely to bring out a lot of Democrats and impact the county-wide races.
