Who is Tim Kennedy?
- Born October 20, 1976 to parents Martin F. Kennedy, Buffalo, NY commissioner of assessment and taxation and Mary Kennedy, a nurse and nurse educator.
- Raised in South Buffalo
- Education – St. Martin’s Elementary School, St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute
- Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Occupational Therapy from D’Youville College
- Worked as a licensed occupational therapist for the Catholic Health System.
- 2004, at age of 28, appointed to the Erie County Legislature representing the 2nd district
- 2005 defeated Paul V. Sullivan in the Democratic primary and Republican Julieanne Mazurkiewicz in the general election.
- 2007 Dennis M. Marek filed as the Republican candidate but Kennedy ran unopposed. https://buffalonews.com/news/3-ex-county-legislators-to-try-comeback-political-blogger-also-seeks-seat-in-erie-county/article_94e6cef4-d212-5e62-8b00-6848fd49f75c.html
- 2010, defeated Democratic incumbent William Stachowski and Republican NYS Assemblyman Jack Quinn III,[for the 58th New York State Senate District (2011-2013)
- 2012, re-elected in the general election to the 63rd senate district following a primary challenge from Democrat Betty Jean Grant which he won by 139 votes. Unopposed in the general election.
- 2014, Kennedy defeated Grant in the Democratic primary and Republican Ricky T. Donovan, Sr. in the general election.
- 2016, re-elected unopposed in the Democratic primary and in the general election.
- 2018, defeated Shaqurah Zachery in the Democratic primary and ran unopposed in the general election after Republican candidate Thomas A. Gaglione didn’t have enough signatures on his petition to qualify for the ballot.
- 2018, appointed chair of the New York State Senate Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capital Investment Committee and secured $100 million for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) Buffalo Metro Rail System.
- 2020, re-elected unopposed.
- 2022, re-elected defeating Conservative party candidate Faye Pietrak.
- 2023, announced as candidate for the NY 26th Congressional district following the announcement that current Representative Brian Higgins will resign in February, 2024.
- 2024, winner of special election for the NY 26th Congressional district against Republican and West Seneca, NY Town Supervisor Gary Dickson
- 2024, Democratic candidate for re-election in the November general election
- May 7, 2024 sworn in to Congress
