The 8 GOP Committee Chairs in the 27th District held a three hour meeting at Batavia Downs on Tuesday night to discuss who will replace Congressman Chris Collins who suspended his campaign for re-election last week.
Erie County GOP Chair Nick Langworthy told reporters after the meeting the group is deciding on the process and would be conducting interviews with each of the candidates next week.
The 8 GOP leaders will then meet again after the interviews to choose a front runner. They hope to have the process complete in 10 days.
The candidate chosen will face Democrat Nate McMurray, who is the Grand Island Supervisor.
No candidates were invited to this evening’s meeting.
The voting process will be a weighted one, based on the number of voters in each chairperson’s county.
There are about 15-20 candidates who have said they are interested in running. Erie County Republican Chair Nick Langworthy says they will most likely go with someone with experience that is a known candidate.
“It is probably not the time for a complete new candidate, someone that does not understand the political process or maybe hasn’t been part of an election before at a big league level. I don’t think there is a lot of time for a learning curve for a first timer,” says Langworthy.
The 8 Chairpersons also met with attorney’s about getting Chris Collins name removed from the ballot.
“With Congressman Collins cooperation, there are mechanisms in place where his name can be removed from the ballot,” says Langworthy.
He says he is confidant that Congressman Collins will cooperate.