Republican Candidate Against the Tide

The big news from the Siena poll released this morning is that despite the Democratic tidal wave that many are expecting to sweep upstate New York in the election next month, Republicans may actually knock out an incumbent Democratic state senator.

Democrat William Stachowski, the incumbent, trails his Republican challenger Dennis Delano, 36-49, with 15 percent undecided.

It's unusual, considering the number of registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, 109,577 to 45,281 in the district, which includes parts of Buffalo and surrounding areas in Erie County.

Albany Times Union reporter Irene Liu said, "The Stachowski - Delano race was not initially considered a top-tier race - but clearly, it is now."