Political Campaigns
Jack Quinn, a moderate Republican who had represented the heavily Democratic 27th since 1993, unexpectedly announced his retirement in 2004. In April 2004 Higgins entered the race, and narrowly defeated then-Erie County Comptroller Nancy Naples. Even after redistricting following the 2000 census, the district was slightly friendlier for Quinn (in part by adding mostly rural Chautauqua County), the 27th was still at the time the most Democratic district in the country to be represented by a Republican. The district has since reverted to form, and Higgins has been reelected twice against nominal Republican opposition, although his 2008 opponent posted six-figure fundraising numbers. In both 2006 and 2008, Higgins garnered over 70 percent of the vote. Higgins' district was drawn to be much more Democrat-friendly in the 2012 redistricting, giving him all of the city of Buffalo and several inner-ring suburbs that used to be in the territory of Louise Slaughter and returning Chautauqua County to its traditional Southern Tier district.
Read more about this topic: Brian Higgins
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