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With much higher turnout than 2016, Erie County went big for Biden

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You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisWith much higher turnout than 2016, Erie County went big for BidenShare thisJoe Biden and Kamala Harris colored Erie County an even darker shade of blue on Election Day, posting significant gains over 2016 totals in the election for president/vice president and reaffirming the area as solid Democratic turf.According to the official, certified results of the Nov. 3 election finally released Saturday by the Erie County Board of Elections, Biden/Harris beat the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence 267,174 to 197,527 – or 56% to 41%. The totals mark a major step backward for Trump in Erie County, where the Republican lost to Hillary Clinton by a much lower margin in 2016 – 213,179 to 188,303 or 49% to 44%.Biden appeared to lure Erie County's normally solid Democrats back into the fold, staking big wins in the City of Buffalo (79,581 to 18,751), as well as major towns like Amherst (40,804 to 25,427) and Tonawanda (24,362 to 15,806). He also reclaimed Cheektowaga (23,365 to 19,544), an overwhelmingly Democratic enclave that narrowly tilted for Trump in 2016.Meanwhile, three other Democratic towns that voted for Trump four years ago – Hamburg, Lancaster and West Seneca – remained in the president's column this time, if only by narrow tallies. In all, Biden won the county's three cities (Buffalo, Tonawanda and Lackawanna), while Trump triumphed in 21 of the county's 25 towns, losing Amherst, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda and Aurora.Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy J. Zellner, who is also Democratic elections commissioner, said the local results stemmed not so much from more enthusiasm for Biden than rejection of Trump."Trump's message of change and 'drain the swamp' resonated four years ago," he said. "But the message was hollow, and all those people saw through it."Listen now and subscribe: | | | | |Zellner said Democrats came back to their line in places like Cheektowaga this year as they rejected Trump's opposition to the Affordable Care Act and reacted to the threat of losing a guarantee of health insurance despite pre-existing conditions and his elimination of income tax deductions for state and local taxes."This was more about a game show host than someone capable of running the country," he said of the former "Apprentice" host. "Trump laid out a lot of promises he failed to keep."On the Republican side, Chairman Karl J. Simmeth Jr. offered few excuses for the candidate who made significant inroads among Erie County Democrats in 2016. Back then, he also believes local voters viewed Trump as a "breath of fresh air and they were tired of politicians.""Oh boy, this time Biden got a lot more votes," he said. "Maybe people wanted to make a statement."Some people didn't like his tweets, or the way he acted, or maybe there was a policy they didn't like," he added. "But people spoke at the voting booth, that's for sure. I've got my work cut out for me."A total of 476,787 citizens of Erie County voted in the 2020 election, compared to 431,537 four years ago. Both chairmen believe the widespread popularity of early voting combined with the expanded use of absentee ballots because of Covid-19 concerns significantly increased turnout."There were just so many different avenues by which people could make their voices heard," Zellner said. "When you remove barriers to more people voting, more people participate."Get local news delivered to your inbox!The election night results in last month's NY-27 congressional contest looked nothing like the final results.{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisWith much higher turnout than 2016, Erie County went big for BidenShare thisJoe Biden and Kamala Harris colored Erie County an even darker shade of blue on Election Day, posting significant gains over 2016 totals in the election for president/vice president and reaffirming the area as solid Democratic turf.According to the official, certified results of the Nov. 3 election finally released Saturday by the Erie County Board of Elections, Biden/Harris beat the Republican ticket of Donald...

With much higher turnout than 2016, Erie County went big for Biden

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