Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is coming to Western New York to appear in two scheduled fundraisers, one in Buffalo and the other in Rochester, to raise funds that will be used to boost Republican congressional candidates as the GOP rallies to keep its majority this November.
Ryan is scheduled to appear in the Hotel At The Lafayette in Buffalo Monday evening. Guests are reportedly paying $1,000 per dinner plate and, for a reported $10,000, may be admitted into a special VIP photo reception.
Congressman Chris Collins says the funds raised by Ryan's Buffalo appearance will be used at the discretion of "Ryan's camp" to support Republican candidates in this year's elections. While he willingly calls it the "ugly side of politics," Collins says it takes funding to help a candidate connect with voters.
"Commercials on TV cost a lot," Collins said. "We all see them all the time.
"Getting your message out to voters is absolutely critical. It costs money. Speaker Ryan is supporting the team, so to speak."
Collins told WBFO he will not take any of the funds collected Monday night. He anticipates some of those dollars may go toward Republican candidate Claudia Tenney, who is running in New York's 22nd Congressional District against Democrat Kim Myers. Both candidates seek to replace the seat's current holder, Richard Hanna, who announced earlier this year he will not seek re-election. Hanna also raised concerns by the GOP when he declared his intention to support Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, calling Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump "unfit" to represent his party.
Ryan is also scheduled to appear in Rochester Tuesday morning for a breakfast fundraiser set up to support incumbent Tom Reed, who faces Democratic challenger John Plumb in what former Deputy Erie County Executive and current lobbyist Carl Calabrese suggests will be a tough race.
"In the last election, Congressman Reed won but not by a very large margin over a fairly new, young and inexperienced candidate," said Calabrese, who is a partner in Masiello, Martucci, Calabrese and Associates. "That will immediately put him on the target list for this cycle. He certainly could use the money. He's already up and running on television. I think you'll see more of that."
Calabrese notes that, in addition to being popular among the Republican Party's conservatives, Ryan has a Western New York connection which may boost his appeal to local party loyalists. He worked under the late Jack Kemp, the former longtime local congressman, HUD Secretary and vice presidential candidate.
