The race to represent Chautauqua County — and a host of other counties — in Congress in 2023 is taking shape.
Last week, the Erie County Democratic Committee endorsed Max Della Pia, who was part of an eight-way primary for the Democratic Party’s nomination to oppose Rep. Tom Reed in 2018. he lost the primary by about 230 votes after absentee ballots were counted.
On Monday, county Republicans endorsed Rep. Claudia Tenney, who is currently representing the 22th Congressional District but who will move inside the boundaries of the newly drawn 23rd Congressional District.
Tenney’s endorsements include former President Donald J. Trump and the county Republican Committees in Erie, Livingston, Chemung, Schuyler, Wyoming and Cortland counties.
Tenney was elected to Congress in November 2016 to represent New York’s old 22nd District which encompasses eight counties in Upstate New York. Prior to her election to Congress, Tenney represented portions of the 23rd District for six years in the state Assembly.
Claudia Tenney
“Thank you to Chairwoman Nacole Ellis and the entire Chautauqua County Republican Committee for your support. I am honored to have the endorsement of Republican and Conservative Committees from across Western New York and the Southern Tier. Joe Biden’s poll numbers are sinking so fast he’s hit the bottom of Lake Eire and is still going down. Our campaign is charging ahead, ready to steamroll whichever Biden lackey Nancy Pelosi recruits to run against us,” Tenney said.
She graduated from Colgate University and the Taft College of Law at the University of Cincinnati. She is the co-owner of Mid-York Press, Inc., a commercial printing and manufacturing firm started by her maternal grandfather in 1946 in Hamilton, Madison County. Mid-York Press now currently employs nearly 80 people in the Chenango County community of Sherburne.
“The Chautauqua County Republican Committee is honored to endorse Congresswoman Tenney for New York’s 23rd District. Over the past month, I’ve gotten to know Claudia as a strong conservative leader and compassionate advocate for our Upstate values. Claudia is leading the charge in Washington to secure the southern border, fund our local police, and stop the Biden Administration’s tax and spend polices that are crushing our economy.
I know Claudia Tenney will be a champion for Chautauqua County in Congress and look forward to working closely with her.” said Chautauqua County Republican Committee Chairman Nacole Ellis.
Della Pia is a retired Air Force colonel who also worked five years for Lockheed Martin. He has practiced law as a defense attorney, owned his own practice, and worked in the US Senate as a Brookings Fellow/Military Legislative Assistant on Senator Carl Levin’s personal staff and as an Air Force Senate Liaison Officer for the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force. After retiring from the military in 2008, he worked for Lockheed Corp. (Lockheed) as a business development analyst senior staff.
Since 2018, he has served as chair of the Tioga County Democratic Committee. He is a member of the Democratic Rural Conference Board, and he is the DRC Vice-Chair Central representing DRC members from Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
