Assemblywoman Corwin announces she won’t seek re-election

Jane Corwin

Jane Corwin, who represents an Assembly district that includes the Town of Shelby in Orleans County, announced today she won’t be seeking re-election to a fifth two-year term.

Corwin of Clarence is among the Republican leaders in the State Assembly. She ran for Congress in 2011, losing a close election to Kathy Hochul, who is now the state’s lieutenant governor.

Corwin’s district was mostly in Erie and Niagara counties, but did include the one Orleans town. She appeared at some functions in Orleans, mostly Republican political events.

“I pride myself in leading by example,” Corwin said in a statement this evening, “and I firmly believe that instituting term limits on state officials will go a long way in ending the corruption and dysfunction in Albany.”

File photo – Assemblywoman Jane Corwin joined former State Sen. George Maziarz and Nic Culver, then 14, during the dedication of a historical marker in September 2014. The marker highlights a famous murder case in West Shelby, when an illiterate German immigrant nearly was executed for a murder he didn’t commit. Corwin helped pay for the marker.

Corwin said she was going to “term myself out” from the State Legislature and give someone else have “the opportunity to represent our community and bring Western New York values to the ‘people’s house.'”

Recently she has pushed for a stronger state response to the opioid overdose crisis and also the “zombie house” problem, where banks own houses but let them sit vacant for many years.

The Republican Party will have to move quickly to find a candidate for the position. The Buffalo News is reporting Corwin’s announcement is just two days before the Thursday deadline for submitting nominating petitions for the Sept. 13 state primary elections.