Got this email today from Chris Lee to his supporters:

Dear Friend,

 I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done to support this campaign. Whether it was putting up a lawn sign, going door-to-door, participating in phone banks, coming out to our rallies, or investing in the campaign - your grassroots efforts made all the difference.

During this campaign, we traveled through all the seven counties – we’ve been to farms, factories, schools, gas stations, and hospitals – we’ve talked to seniors, veterans, small business owners, police, firefighters, and first responders.   Thank you to all those who were kind enough to open their homes, neighborhoods, and businesses to our campaign.

I’m prepared to work with anyone who is committed to getting our economy back on track, Democrats, Republicans, or otherwise. We are going to make government more accountable to the people of Western New York.

This is a victory worth celebrating – but we certainly have our work cut out for us, and I will need your help in the months ahead.

Again, please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your support.

Thanks,

 

CHRIS LEE

Alice Kryzan also emailed her supporters today

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WNYMedia is accusing the Chris Lee campaign of  “littering the district with illegal and grossly misleading flyers about Alice Kryzan.”

I have contacted the Lee campaign, and have been told they “had no involvement in the flyers.”

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Chris Lee and Alice Kryzan are debating on WBEN right now. It seems to me that Alice only knows how to blame the Bush Administration for all the problems the country is dealing with now, but doesn’t have a single solution. 

Listening to Alice talk she truly earns the nickname “Alice In Liberaland.” She seems to be in her own little world that isn’t based in reality but in Democrat talking points.

Some thoughts and observations on the debate:

• Lee nailed Kryzan for supporting the redistribution of wealth. Kryzan denied, of course, even though it is impossible to cut taxes for 95% of Americans when 40% don’t pay any taxes at all.
• Kryzan called Obama’s redistribution plan her own plan.
• Kryzan accused Lee of not being out in the district… Even though it was actually her who has recently given excuses why she hasn’t been out more. She accused Lee of sitting in his office behind his “bags of money” which is a laugh and a half since their net worths are roughly the same. Lee called her on that and ridiculed her for painting herself as a poor person.
• Kryzan claimed she’s open to working with both parties, but only spoke of working with the Democrats in Congress and with a Democrat administration.
• Kryzan thinks healthcare is a right. Someone hand her a copy of the Constitution, and explain to her why Canadians who have socialized medicine come down to America for treatment.
• If Kryzan was challenged to offer proposals and not blame, she would have been lost for words.
• Lee said small businesses cannot afford to pay employees for a full year of not working under the Family Leave Act. Alice thinks they should be.
• Kryzan danced around an answer about the so-called Fairness Doctrine.
• Kryzan wants your tax dollars to pay for abortions. Lee does not.
• Kryzan supports the Employee Free Choice Act would which would deny employers the right to demand secret-ballot elections before a union can be certified. Lee does not support it, says it is a misnomer that leaves workers open to coercion and intimidation.
• Lee called Kryzan out for flip-flopping on accepting special interest money.
• Kryzan is against “unfettered free markets.” If she sounds like a socialist and looks a socialist she must be a socialist.

UPDATE: Kryzan could do no wrong according to Buffalo Pundit’s bizarre assessment of the debate. Of course, all facts that supported Lee or contradicted Kryzan were “beside the point.” 

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The Buffalo Bean recently had the opportunity to interview Chris Lee, candidate for U.S. Congress in New York’s 26th district. The interview was conducted via email and is posted below:

THE BUFFALO BEAN: You have been the target of some false negative ads put out by the DCCC on behalf of Alice Kryzan. As a newcomer to politics, were you surprised by the tone taken by your opponent and the groups trying to put her in office?

CHRIS LEE: It is unfortunate that Alice Kryzan has run a negative smear campaign against my family and our business. It does not surprise me that she has nothing positive to say about her background or her vision for Western New York.

Unlike my opponent my campaign has focused on the issues. Alice Kryzan has been on record for wanting to raise taxes which would harm our economy and destroy jobs in Western New York.

TBB: A new poll by SurveyUSA has you with a significant lead over your opponent. With the outlook for Republicans nationwide considered bleak even in Republican-leaning districts, why do you think you’re running so strong?

CJL: I don’t take a lot of stock in polls. The only poll I care about is the one on Election Day.  Voters are interested in electing someone who brings solutions and experience.

TBB: According to that same poll, there are still 18% who are undecided. What would you tell those voters to convince them they should support you?

CJL: In these troubling economic times we need a leader in Congress that has the real world experience of creating jobs in Western New York, balancing a budget and meeting a payroll.  Western New Yorkers deserve an independent voice in Washington who won’t accept business as usual.  A leader who will fight to keep taxes low, not raise them - who will fight for affordable health care, not government run health care. We have enough attorneys in Washington it is time to send a businessman to Congress.

TBB: What part of your message has resonated the most with the voters you’ve talked with on the campaign trail?

CJL: People like the fact that I have created jobs in Western New York. I have spent my career growing a family business that helped Western New York’s economy. Out of the 535 members of Congress, 237 members hold a law degree and only 18 members hold an MBA degree. Western New Yorkers understand that we don’t need another lawyer in Congress we need a businessman.

TBB: How do feel your experience as a successful businessman makes you better suited to represent the 26th district than your opponent?

CJL: I am a businessman, not a career politician. I bring real world experience to the job.  I’ve helped build a business and create jobs in Western New York.  I’ve been fortunate enough to sign the front of paychecks as well as the back. I know the challenges job-creating businesses face — and in Congress, I will work to make sure it is easier for them to grow in our communities.  When you are meeting a payroll you understand how difficult it is to earn a dollar. Therefore you are also a better steward of taxpayer’s hard earned tax dollars.

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I just heard that Channel 2 News released a new SurveyUSA Poll during their noon news broadcast with the following results for the congressional race in the 26th district:

Chris Lee 48%
Alice Kryzan 34%
Undecided 18%

Looks like Alice’s smear campaign isn’t working out for her, and Chris Lee’s message is resonating big with the voters.

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UPDATE: The DCCC and Alice Kryzan are continuing their smear campaign against Chris Lee… Here a mailer that was recently sent out:

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This ad appeared in the Buffalo News yesterday (click for a larger version):

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At the Clarence Candidates’ Forum yesterday, Alice Kryzan made a bit of a gaffe in not only flip flopping on her position on special interests, but by saying she work hard for the hard working people of the 25th district.

Of course she’s running in the 26h District.. so … woops.

The left-wing Buffalo Pundit was able to make it to the event, and decided to do a bit of preemptive damage control for Alice in Wonderland:

At one point, Kryzan slipped and said “25th” when she meant “26th” district. A dopey misstatement, but a misstatement nonetheless, and I have no doubt that the Republicans will try to make some hay with it about Kryzan not knowing what district she’s running in.

Uh huh… and had had Chris Lee made the the same mistake does anyone doubt that we’d have seen some picture of Lee with some witty “FAIL” caption on it?

While I am sure at this point Alice has managed to memorize what district she lives in, it serves as a reminder that Alice doesn’t really have much knowledge about the local issues.

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Today, Vets for Freedom, the largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans’ organization in America, endorsed Chris Lee for congress. David Bellavia, decorated Iraq War veteran and Vets for Freedom Co-Chairman was with Lee today to announce the endorsement.

“As a veteran who has proudly served my country in the United States Army, I am here to speak on behalf of Vets for Freedom in offering our support of Chris Lee for United States Congress,” said Vets for Freedom Co-Chairman David Bellavia. “Chris understands that the fight we are currently undertaking in Iraq is essential to our success in the global fight against Islamic extremism. Vets for Freedom looks forward to working with Chris in Congress.”

“It’s an honor to have the endorsement of Vets for Freedom,” said Chris Lee. “In Congress, my commitment to our service members and veterans will be absolute. I’ll fight to ensure we have world-class care at our VA facilities, our troops have the equipment they need to succeed and the proper benefits they deserve when they come home from the battlefield.”

Vets for Freedom is a nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their mission is to educate the American public about the importance of achieving success in these conflicts by applying first-hand knowledge to issues of American strategy and tactics in Iraq. Vets for Freedom supports policymakers from both sides of the aisle who have stood behind the great generation of American warriors on the battlefield, and who have put long-term national security before short-term partisan political gain. Vets for Freedom is the largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans organization in America.

And Alice Kryzan has Jon Powers, the Iraq War veteran who created a charity meant to help Iraqi children, but helped his own bank account a lot more.

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Earlier today, Buffalo Pundit regurgitated claims by WNYMedia that Chris Lee has been MIA on the campaign trail. According to WNYM’s Mark Odien, Chris Lee “has been avoiding the press and the public like the plague.” Odien deosn’t say this is his opinion, he says it is a fact.

Their claim is ignorant at best, but more likely a fabricated lie.

It was just last week that Alice Kryzan, not Chris Lee, who skipped out on a candidates debate in Amherst hosted by the League of Women Voters. Curiously, Buffalo Pundit made no mention of Kryzan’s cowardice at that event. He’s been silent about a lot things about Alice Kryzan, like her special interest money and her lack of knowledge of so major local issues. Alice also has not done a Question the Candidate segment with Channel 7… Chris Lee has. WKBW Chan 7 Anchor Keith Radford even said, “We also offered this free time for a response to Democratic Congressional candidate Alice Kryzan she declined to take part.”

Where’s the criticism for Alice from Buffalo Pundit and other left-wing WNY bloggers? Unless they’re living under a rock, they must know she has been ducking intorviews and debates left and right… but you wouldn’t know it by reading their blogs.

UPDATE: It doesn’t look like Alice has bothered to show up at WROC 8 yet either… But Chris Lee has.

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It appears that Alice Kryzan is still looking to get on the Working Families Party line…

The Working Families Party has gone to court to name Democrat Alice J. Kryzan its candidate in the 26th Congressional District contest against Republican Chris Lee.

Bob Brehm, spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said Monday that the board last week came to no agreement on the Working Families Party’s attempt to substitute Kryzan’s name on the line in place of Jon Powers, who earlier this year won the party’s nomination but subsequently lost the Democratic primary. Powers filed a statement indicating he moved out of state, a basis for removal from the line.

But Republican members blocked the move on the board level, with GOP election lawyers previously indicating the move did not fulfill constitutional requirements.

If successful, the move would provide a major boost to the Kryzan campaign, since she appears on only the Democratic line, while Lee has the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.

Justice Joseph Teresi is slated to hear the case in in Albany on Thursday.

With two weeks to go before the election, i don’t think Alice will have much luck… and I don’t think it is really worth all the fuss.

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The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle offers a bizarre endorsement of Alice Kryzan:

Democrat Alice Kryzan is an environmental attorney who believes she can defy the odds in the Republican-dominated 26th Congressional District and help make life better in this region.

So do we. The Democrat and Chronicle endorses Kryzan in the Nov. 4 general election.

She is opposed by Republican Chris Lee, who also is making his first foray into politics. However, Lee, the owner of a successful family business that operates internationally, failed to provide a strong enough argument that he’d be the best successor to retiring Republican Rep. Tom Reynolds.

Kryzan not only persuaded us she has good ideas worth trying, but that she possesses the kind of personal decorum that seems to be in short supply in the public arena. She took the high road in the mudslinging Democratic primary campaign and was rewarded by voters with victory.

[...]

However, Lee’s criticism of Kryzan’s lack of familiarity with proposed Renaissance Square, the largest capital project in this region’s history, was valid. The project, after all, in some form could represent a major boost to the revitalization of downtown.

To adequately represent this region, Kryzan must thoroughly educate herself about its myriad concerns. She’s certainly capable.

So let me see if I understand this correctly… Kryvan demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the issues, but since she’s a Democrat and it has been a Republican district it’s okay…

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Chris Lee’s campaign has exposed a huge lie of Alice Kryzan’s. Kryzan has been on the record for a year saying she would refuse contributions from special interests and lobbyists.  At the Democratic primary debate as Geneseo last month, she said the following:

I do not believe that you can go to Congress and be an independent voice of the 26th district when you have taken hundreds of thousands from PACs, lobbyists and special interests groups. Money is corrupting our political system. It is in some respects the root of all evil there … everywhere I go in this district people are telling me I want to see somebody like you in Congress, somebody who will fight for us, free of any taint, free of any link to these special interests who do except something in return for their donations.” 

Well, according to her FEC report, filed last night, she is very much indeed accepting contributions from special interests and lobbyists. 

• Kryzan’s Total Special Interest Contributions: $83,150
• Kryzan’s PAC Contributions: $69,000
• Kryzan’s Washington Establishment Contributions (Lobbyists, Members of Congress, House Staff): $14,150
• The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which is financed by special interests, has pledged more than $1.5 million in NY-26 district before Election Day.

Andrea Bozek, Chris Lee for Congress spokeswoman said in a statement, “Alice Kryzan is learning fast how to be the kind of politician she promised not to be. How can the people of Western New York trust Alice Kryzan? For the past year she’s sworn off special interest money and now she’s taken nearly one hundred thousand dollars from special interest groups and political action committees.”

I guess, Alice Kryzan, by her own standard, is a tainted politician who cannot independently represent the 26th district.

It is also worth noting, as the 26th District Blog has discovered, that Jon Powers, who claimed he was not drawing a salary from his campaign funds, actually did, according to his FEC reports.

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This morning a number of candidates attended the Town of Amherst Center for Senior Services Coffee With the Candidates Debate.

Candidates in attendence included State Senate candidates Mike Ranzenhofer and Joe Mesi, Assemblyman Jim Hayes and Jerry Schad, Amherst Town Clerk candidates, NYS Supreme Court candidates, and District Attorney candidates Frank Sedita and Diane LaVallee.

Also in attendence was congressional candidate Chris Lee. But, The Buffalo Bean has learned that his Democrat opponent, Alice Kryzan, was a no-show.

So, while candidates from both major parties at every level of government were there, why didn’t Alice Kryzan attend?

Where is she hiding?

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As you may be aware, Chris Lee and Alice Kryzan will be debating tonight.

I had an opportunity to attend, but I had previously made arrangements to make my first return visit to Boston, MA since I moved to Western New York in March of this year. So, I will unfortunately miss the debate.

I hope to acquire audio of the debate this weekend and offer my thoughts on it when I return.

In the meantime, I would like to take a moment to direct your attention to a new user blog here at The Buffalo Bean called GOP Steam. While I’m gone this weekend you can check out GOP Steam for some fresh content.

If you’re a Western New York conservative and are interested in starting your own blog, click here to learn about how you can start your own blog here at The Buffalo Bean.

UPDATE, 11:05 PM: I have arrived in Boston, and made it back to my brother’s condo where I will be staying during my visit. I have received multiple emails telling me that Chris Lee clobbered Kryzan in the debate. With no access to a laptop I can’t provide any links to audio or anything as I am limited by the capabilities of my iPhone, but I hope to listen to the debate soon after my return Sunday night. But, nevertheless it is good to hear that Chris Lee beat Kryzan in the debate.

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Since the general election campaign season began, the DCCC and other Democrat groups have begun investing tons of money smearing Chris Lee.

Now, Chris Lee’s campaign has responded with a slideshow debunking the claims being made by the DCCC and others trying to smear Chris Lee on behalf of Alice Kryzan:

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