Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter

http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9

By: Tony Farina

Many of the names battling to replace Chris Collins in the 27th Congressional District are well known to the public, names like Jacobs, McMurrary and Parlato to name a few.

But a new name has entered the contest and while he may be the longest of long shots and carries some legal baggage, Duane Whitmer, the Erie County Libertarian Party chairman, has been endorsed by party leaders in the district for the special election April 28.

We asked Whitmer about that legal baggage this week and he said all of it has been taken care of, including a tax foreclosure notice on a piece of Hamburg property and a state tax warrant for $566.33 filed against him nine years ago.

Whitmer, who owns an accounting business, said he settled the tax warrant within a year of its filing and downplayed the tax foreclosure notice he received in 2016 from Wells Fargo Bank, saying he still lives in the house in the foreclosure filing.

He attributed his legal problems and complaints from officials of Erie County Scope about statement he made on a podcast to youthful mistakes and said all is well now and he is focused on the campaign for congress.

There are slightly less than 1,000 Libertarian Party members in the 27th District.

**attorney advertising**