Votes were being cast Tuesday in a special election to fill New York’s open 26th Congressional District in and around Buffalo. The seat had been held by Brian Higgins for 19 years until he stepped down in February to become president and CEO of Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. 

Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy and Republican Gary Dickson are running in Tuesday's special election, which is not considered competitive by the Cook Political Report, which rates the seat a "Solid D" district with a Cook partisan voting index of D+10.

The current 26th District map includes a huge swath of Niagara County up to Lake Ontario. In 2025, the district drops much of that area in exchange for more of West Seneca in the south.

Kennedy has filed to run in November’s general election, but Dickson has not. Instead, an attorney, Anthony Marecki, who is considered placeholder by many, has filed to run on the Republican ballot line in the general election. It’s not yet clear if Marecki will appear on the ballot in the June 25 congressional primary election. If Gary Dickson does well in Tuesday's race, the GOP may consider running him in November general election instead of Marecki.

Kennedy does not have a general election primary.

Capital Tonight spoke to two well-known political strategists, Jack O’Donnell, founder of O’Donnell & Associates, and former Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw, who is now with Big Dog Strategies, about the contours of the race.