Published: July 29, 2008 10:57 am      

DEMS: NT dems back Powers

Fresh face, war record earns candidate local backing for congressional bid

It’s a number that Democratic congressional candidate Jon Powers knows by heart: $5,000.

That would be the answer to the question how much are we spending on the war in Iraq? Per second.

It is a fact Powers, a veteran of the Iraq war, is no doubt playing up, and comments made by various officials at different levels of local endorsement indicate supporters are rallying behind the “Powers Platoon.”

North Tonawanda Mayor Larry Soos, who offered use of his bar on Oliver street for a fundraiser Monday evening, had made no his personal endorsement prior to Powers’ speech, but had a change of heart.

“It’s a hard thing to endorse a candidate,” Soos said as he and others began asking the candidate questions. “Because what if the other candidate wins ... and there’s a lot of money ... but after hearing you talk tonight I’m definitely endorsing you.”

It was the latest in a long line of nods in the three-way primary between Powers, attorney Alice Kryzan and Akron businessman Jack Davis, twice an unsuccessful candidate for New York’s 26th district seat.

The race is considered a possible pick-up for House Democrats after the surprise announcement earlier this year that incumbent Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-Clarence, wouldn’t seek a sixth term in office.

The Erie and Niagara county Democratic committees have already lent their support to Powers. Then came the traditionally more reserved pact with the region’s AFL-CIO late last month and the labor-based Working Families Party.

Late last month, immediately following a meeting with local labor leaders at his Amherst campaign headquarters, Powers learned he had been accepted into the Democratic National Committee’s Red to Blue Campaign — what is expected to be a powerful source of revenue.

Aides said only three Democratic races in the country have candidates endorsed by Red to Blue.

“I’m kind of his liaison on North Tonawanda,” Mark Houghton, executive board member of the Niagara County Democratic Committee and member of the North Tonawanda constituency, said. “He’s actually walked a lot of the streets in North Tonawanda to inform people.”

Powers said his camp has raised about $900,000 so far, and quoted Republican presidential candidate John McCain on one occasion (although he denounced McCain for not speaking enough during a recent visit).

A focus of the evening, in which the special crowd there to hear Powers paid $25 and consumed pizza and drinks among the regular customers in Soos’ Cafe, was fundraising.

“The good news is that there’s enough money to fund my campaign. The bad news is that it’s still in your wallets and purses,” Powers quoted McCain as saying.

The Clarence native also focused heavily on his disappointment with Washington partisanship, and war-time experiences which he said politicized him.

After returning from battle, the self described non-politician said he was dismayed that “it was more about the red or the blue than the red, white and blue.”

Powers served in Iraq from May 2003 to July 2004, and has since been back on a civil humanitarian mission through Washington.

Daniel Rivera, chair of the Niagara County committee, thinks the relevancy of Powers’ war experience was a factor in his group’s endorsement approval.

“We were right out there before the AFL, before the others. Jon’s a product that sells itself.”

Soos earlier in the night seemed to be pondering the announcement of his support.

“Davis has a war chest. Jon’s got to go up against a heavy-duty war chest and the only way to do that is to go out and meet and greet the people,” Soos said prior to Powers’ speech. “That’s exactly what he’s doing, and the voters will decide.”

A vacant storefront two doors north of Soos’ Cafe advertised the coming of a Jack Davis campaign headquarters.

“Jack is back,” was painted on the storefront window.

“I think Jon has got a good message. I think he’s a good man with a lot of great ideas. I think he’s got a great future in the political scene,” Soos said.

Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.