Jonathan Rivera is currently the Erie County special assistant to the commissioner of Public Works.

Now he wants to make the transition from county government to elected official.

"Born and raised in this neighborhood," Rivera said. "I went to public school in this neighborhood. I went to college in this neighborhood. I work in this neighborhood and I know the needs of it and I know the things that are going on and where I can play role in it."

The Democrat is running for the 149th state Assembly district. Fellow Dem Sean Ryan currently holds the seat but is turning his attention to a 2020 state Senate run. Rivera believes his experience in the public and private sector makes him the right candidate for the job.

"For the last 15 years of my life I've done a bit of private sector, working in banking locally, and then also in local government, working on everything from multimillion dollar projects to assisting in passage of local laws," he said.

Rivera has a background in politics. Out of college, he worked for Rep. Brian Higgins and his father David is a Buffalo Common Council member.

"Before that, we've always been in public service. My mother is a teacher. My father was a police officer before he was councilman and public service has just always been part of my family and now it's just sort of a different chapter and a different direction," he said.

Rivera said so far, local Democrats have responded positively to his candidacy. The district stretches the Lake Erie shoreline from the city of Buffalo to Hamburg.

"There's a lot going on on the waterfront so I guess that's a big part of it," he said. "There's a lot that's going to be happening over the next few years at the Bethlehem Steel site, so that's a part of it. There's a huge refugee community in the district and it's a big diverse district not just in economics and ethnicity but in a lot of ways and I think it will take somebody with exposure to all those things that can truly lead it well.