Livingston GOP chair endorses Lee in 26th CD

Lowell Conrad, Chairman of the Livingston County Republican Committee, endorsed Christopher Lee Monday along with six other GOP chairs from Western New York as their candidate in the 26th NYS Congressional district race.

I spoke with Chairman Conrad regarding his choice of Lee who, according to Conrad, was the consensus pick going into Monday evening’s vote.

While others threw their hat in the ring on the GOP side Conrad viewed Lee as the most able to run a campaign and as the candidate that would be “most well-received.”

Conrad stated that Lee’s platform must of course be fleshed out in the days to come but initially Lee has been a “proponent of small business, a fiscal conservative who represents the values of the territory.”

Conrad indicated that in his view Lee is very much a moderate though “certainly not considered a liberal.”

Lee is already at a slight disadvantage given his late arrival to the game, caused by the abrupt retirement announcement by Tom Reynolds, and additional challengers continue to announce candidacies.

GOP chairs chose Lee despite a vote last Friday by Western NY Conservative party leaders to back Rick Lewis. Lewis has not stated that he would mount a rare GOP primary but he has said that he is “not afraid” of challenging Lee.