GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. -- Nate McMurray entered public office for the first time in 2016 as Grand Island's Town Supervisor. He's now considering a much bigger post, a seat in Congress currently occupied by Rep. Chris Collins.

He says his desire to make this a place where more people can make a living is the primary force behind him considering a congressional run against Collins, the Republican representing New York's 27th District.

"We need to figure out ways so they can work here, raise their families here and prosper here, and if I run, that's what I am going to be running for, to change that. I think we can be the premier place to live in the northeast," said McMurray, D-Grand Island.

McMurray acknowledges that defeating Collins would be a difficult task, but says he was also counted out when he ran for Grand Island Town Supervisor.

"This is not a place where it's easy for Democrats to be elected, and when I first ran, people said you don't have a chance at all, so I'm used to those odds. I'm used to people saying you can't get things done, you're never going to get changes to the tolls, you're never going to get elected, that building's always going to be closed, that's fine. I think we've already proven that you can do things that other people say are impossible," McMurray said.

McMurray would be the 4th Democrat to throw his hat into the ring following Sean Bunny, Tom Casey and Nick Stankevich. Erie County Democratic Committee Chairman Jeremy Zellner says he likes what McMurray brings to the table.

“Nate is a strong candidate, he gets things done across party lines in a heavily Republican Town of Grand Island. He's had several major accomplishments already on the town," said Zellner, who says a candidate forum will be held in mid-January before the party chooses who to endorse.

Grand Island is not a part of the 27th District. McMurray says he would move to North Tonawanda, where he grew up, where his mother lives and his brother is the school board president, if he wins.

McMurray says he still needs to consider what running for Congress would mean for both his family and Grand Island, and that he plans on making his decision in the next month.

McMurray has spent much of his professional life overseas in China and Korea before coming back to Western New York to work for Delaware North, where he is currently the vice president of development.