Collins wins a close race despite indictment

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 November 2018 at 11:56 pm

Chris Collins speaks at the Orleans GOP Rally on Oct. 25.

Chris Collins was elected to a fourth term to Congress despite being indicted on insider trading charges about three months ago.

Collins campaigned for the importance of keeping the seat in Republican control to ensure an ally for President Donald Trump. Collins was the first member of Congress to support Trump’s campaign in early 2016. The local congressman has frequently appeared on television news programs as an advocate for the president.

Nate McMurray, a Democrat and the Grand Island town supervisor, had a strong showing in an overwhelmingly Republican district. (Republicans outnumber Democrats by 40,000 in the 27th Congressional District.)

He posted this statement on Twitter: “To the best supporters a guy could ask for, we came up short tonight – but that doesn’t mean our fight is over. I couldn’t be more proud of what we created here, & you should be too. This was special. Now, we keep fighting for what we believe in. We’ll ALWAYS #FightLikeHell.”

The unofficial results from the eight counties in the district show Collins ahead by more than 2,000 votes – 124,777 to 122,197. That doesn’t include absentees or other provisional ballots.

McMurray won three of the eight counties but was unable to overcome Collins’ big totals in the rural areas.

Here is a breakdown from each county for the votes at the polling places on Nov. 6:

Erie County

McMurray – 51,319

Collins – 45,671

Genesee County

McMurray – 8,149

Collins – 10,986

Livingston County

McMurray – 11,379

Collins – 11,940

Monroe County