State Senator George D. Maziarz Vice President Pro Tempore (R) 62nd District

Why would Buffalo parking lot king Carl Paladino want to team up with New York’s political Prince of Darkness Steve Pigeon to back failed Niagara Falls mayoral candidate Johnny Destino in what can only be thought of as futile attempt to unseat powerful state Sen. George Maziarz in this year’s Republican Primary?

Maziarz thinks he knows the answer.

“It’s 2009 all over again,” he said. “They want to create a state Senate divided 31-31 with Chuck Swanick in the middle so they can regain control. I’m supporting Mark Grisanti and that’s a problem for them.”

Swanick is the Democrat who is running against state Sen. Mark Grisanti in November. A known political waffler who once before flipped to the Republican Party before turning himself back into a Democrat, he would likely be far more controllable than Grisanti, who has bucked the GOP line on gay marriage and other issues.

In 2009, Pigeon used Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano’s money to convince two Democratic senators, Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate, to vote with the Republicans and take over the senate.

Pigeon was then rewarded with the lucrative post of senate counsel. Both Espada and Monserrate were subsequently indicted for a laundry list of felonies, and each was convicted in separate trials earlier this month on charges ranging from stealing from political slush funds to stealing from a charitable health care facility.

“The only difference now is that it’s Carl Paladino cutting the checks rather than Tom Golisano,” Maziarz told the Reporter. “I’m afraid that, without realizing it, my opponent is merely a dupe in a scheme he is completely unaware of.”

Destino’s bid must be regarded at best as the longest of longshots. His political experience is limited. Last year, he ran a rudderless campaign to unseat the politically inadequate Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, and now, running against a 17-year veteran of the state Senate who has built up considerable power and a reported million-dollar campaign war chest, he would seem to be completely out of his league.

Maziarz had only one primary challenge. That was in 2008 when he trounced Ryan Greer collecting 81 percent of the vote.

Democratic opponents have been routinely crushed, with none receiving 40 percent of the vote.

Still, Maziarz said he likes to focus on his accomplishments at election time.
“My belief has always been that as goes Niagara Falls, so goes all of Western New York,” he said. “So even during those years when I didn’t represent the city at all, or only a small sliver of it, I took a great interest in what went on there.”

Most recently, he said, the Nik Wallenda high wire walk across the falls is something he worked hard on.

“I ended up working for over a year to pass special legislation to bring Nik to Niagara Falls to walk a wire across the falls to Canada. This historic event has already brought national and international media outlets to the city,” he said. “The whole world will be watching, and this is the first I remember that Niagara Falls, New York, has received this type of exposure.”

Maziarz is also particularly proud of his work in getting a new terminal and expansion program set in place at Niagara Falls International Airport.

“After years of failed attempts, we decided to round up representatives from each and every sector of the Niagara County community to gain support for the building of the new terminal, and then, he found the money to make the project happen,” he said. “It’s already paid dividends in the rapid increases in passenger traffic we’ve seen ever since.”
Maziarz said that while individual issues often require a specific approach, an overall philosophy is what is needed to lead effectively.

“The four broader goals that are never far from my thoughts are relief from taxes, the restoration of Western New York’s economic health and job base, greater crime prevention and victims’ assistance, and increased attention to senior citizens’ concerns,” he said.

Towards those ends, he has been central in enacting and implementing the Recharge New York program, which grants low-cost energy contracts to deserving companies here, and the SUNY 2020 plan, a comprehensive package that supporters say will help create thousands of new jobs in our community.

This year, redistricting will give the winner of the 62nd Senate District complete representation of the city. And with Pigeon and Paladino acting as masterminds of the Destino effort, it promises to get ugly, even by Niagara Falls standards. This may be understandable in that Destino has absolutely no record of accomplishments to boast of, no achievement on which to hang his political hat.

In fact, the Destino camp has already launched a campaign of negative robo-calls, one of which included Maziarz’s personal cell phone number.

Maziarz said he would not stoop to sleazy tactics himself, but recognizes what and who he’s dealing with.
“I’ve been to the rodeo a couple times and think I’m ready for whatever mud they want to throw,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be that way and it’s a shame that it is.”

Maziarz said he would take the high ground, zeroing in on legislation he sponsored and helped implement that actually improved people’s lives here and around the state.

“I sponsored Megan’s law, which established the state’s sex offender registry and tracking system,” he said. “The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, and the Green Jobs/Green New York are just a few that stick out in my mind.”

Maziarz said that, while the primary is troublesome in that it will be an expense and take up some of his time, he is confident of a big win.

“These days, when I see a candidate naive enough to allow Steve Pigeon into his camp, I kind of feel sorry for him,” he said.
“Pigeon’s been implicated in a large percentage of the political scandals to take place both in Erie County and Albany in recent years, and his negative numbers are through the roof.”

The winner of the Maziarz-Destino contest will go on to face Democrat Amy Hope Witryol, a retired banker, in the general election. A political neophyte much like Destino, her only previous experience consists of running against, and being crushed by Maziarz in 2010.

Maziarz’s 2-1 margin of victory was somewhat of a disappointment, as he has routinely beat the Democrats by margins as high as 8-2.

A North Tonawanda native who became that city’s clerk at the age of 25, Maziarz currently lives with his wife Beverly in Newfane.