Republican Senator Dale Volker

Veteran Sen. Dale Volker, who weathered primary challenges in 2006 and 2008, has decided not to seek re-election this fall, a Senate source confirmed.

The senator will be making this “major announcement” at 11 a.m. tomorrow at his district office in Depew.

Volker, a plain-spoken law-and-order Republican (he’s a former cop) who has long chaired the Codes Committee, was first elected to the Assembly in 1972. Three years later, he won a special election to the Senate, filling a seat vacated by Supreme Court Justice Thomas McGowan.

Senate Republicans aren’t sounding terribly worried about holding Volker’s seat, and my source said Minority Leader Dean Skelos didn’t try to convince him to stick around, despite the fact that the GOP is engaged in a last-ditch attempt to win back the majority. (If they fail this time, they’ll likely be redistricted into extinction).

“This was his call,” my source said. “The (former Senate Majority Leader Joe) Bruno way was to try to keep everybody running; this year it’s all or nothing. If there’s ever going to be a good year for us, it’s this year.”


The enrollment in the district is: 79,401 Republicans, 65,781 Democrats, 41,860 blanks.

Erie County GOP Chairman Jim Domagalski has been eyeing a run for Volker’s seat. He’s the odds-on favorite to be backed by the Senate minority, although he isn’t likely to be the only candidate now that this is free-for-all for an open seat.

Political activist Leonard Roberto, who ran against Volker in 2006 and came close to winning Erie County that year, had already made clear his intention to launch a re-match, but then decided to switch races (see the update below).

Here are the results from the last two GOP primaries in the 59th SD:

In 2008: David DiPierto 5,950; Volker 8,247.

In 2006: Roberto 3,715; Volker 6,550.

UPDTE1: Roberto is running for Congress this year, challenging Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins. DiPierto, the mayor of East Aurora, has already announced he’s running again for Volker’s seat.

UPDATE2: I reached Domagalski just now. He said he will have something to say tomorrow, but declined comment today.

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