NY-26 GOP candidate Gary Dickson: “I think the people need to have a choice”

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — West Seneca town supervisor Gary Dickson, who is on the Republican ticket for the 26th Congressional special election in April, says he is running because he believes that “the people need to have a choice” in the race with State Senator Tim Kennedy.

Dickson was nominated by the Erie County Republican committee on Wednesday to run against Kennedy in the April 30 special election.

Dickson is a U.S. Army veteran who also spent 27 years with the FBI. He has been a community leader in West Seneca since he retired from law enforcement in 2015. He said Thursday that the fact that he is not a career politician will help him.

“My Army service and my service in law enforcement, it’s all about service and it’s about defending the protecting the innocent or the vulnerable,” Dickson said. “I think a lot of people get in law enforcement because they want to right a wrong. They see things are not going well and they want to be part of the solution. I would hate to go through my life and not feel I was making things a little bit better when I left than they were when I came.”

Dickson touted that the Town of West Seneca has not raised taxes for residents in four years, as well as the fact that he believes in term limits and is in his final term as the town’s supervisor.

“Not everybody has the answer, people need to rotate through and let other people have a shot,” Dickson said.

He said that he also believes that Kennedy, who has been a State Senator since 2011 “deserves to have a good candidate opposing him.”

“This is not the coronation of Tim Kennedy. This is an election, and I think he deserves to have a good candidate opposing him,” Dickson said.

Kennedy and Dickson will face off in the special election to replace Brian Higgins, who stepped down in February to become the president of Shea’s Performing Arts Center. Higgins had represented Western New York in Washington since 2005.

New York’s 26th Congressional District represents Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lackawanna, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, among other municipalities.

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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

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