Tim Kennedy spent 11 years as an occupational therapist before he entered politics, then served on the Erie County Legislature and 13 years in the State Senate, where he chaired the Transportation Committee. He won a special election for the 26th Congressional District in April 2024 after Rep. Brian Higgins resigned, and he won a full term that November.
So who is Tim Kennedy, what has he passed, and why did a Buffalo watchdog say he spent like a congressional candidate before he was one? The record runs through school bus cameras, limousine safety laws written after the Schoharie crash, four House bills that have not become law, and a 2026 race against Republican Dennis Hannon.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Democratic (also on the Working Families line)
- Hometown
- Buffalo, N.Y.
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in official biographies reviewed (born in 1976)
- Current Position
- U.S. House of Representatives, New York's 26th District
- Background
- Former state senator and Senate Transportation Committee chair; former Erie County legislator; licensed occupational therapist
- In Office Since
- 2024 (Congress); county and state office since 2004
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Kennedy grew up in Buffalo in what his House biography calls a blue-collar family, one of five children of Marty and Mary Kennedy. He attended St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in occupational therapy from D’Youville College, according to his biography and Ballotpedia, which lists his birth year as 1976.
He worked for 11 years as a licensed occupational therapist with older adults and children. He also created a job listing website and an annual Queen City Job Fair. He and his wife, Katie, live in the City of Buffalo with their three children, Connor, Eireann, and Padraic, according to his former Senate biography.
FROM THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE TO ALBANY, 2004 TO 2010
Kennedy joined the Erie County Legislature in 2004 and served there until 2010, according to Ballotpedia. In 2010 he ran for the State Senate’s 58th District and beat incumbent Democratic Sen. William Stachowski in a September primary. Stachowski stayed on the ballot that November on the Independence line.
The general election was close. Kennedy beat Republican Jack Quinn III, 42,757 to 41,162, a margin of 1,595 votes, with Stachowski taking 6,611, according to Ballotpedia. He took office in January 2011 in a chamber controlled by Republicans, where he would spend his first eight years in the minority.
A DECADE IN THE STATE SENATE, 2012 TO 2022
Redistricting moved Kennedy into the new 63rd District, and his 2012 primary against Erie County Legislature Chair Betty Jean Grant came down to 156 votes, 11,587 to 11,431. Grant challenged the count, and a state Supreme Court justice ordered his certification, according to WBFO. He ran unopposed that November.
In 2013 he voted for the SAFE Act gun law, which passed 43 to 18 with every no vote from a Republican, and passed Jay-J’s Law, Chapter 172 of 2013, which toughened penalties for repeat child abuse. In 2014 he beat Grant again in a primary rematch, 16,660 to 10,997, and passed Jackie’s Law, Chapter 184 of 2014, which added GPS tracking to the state’s stalking law.
When Democrats took the Senate majority in 2019, Kennedy became chairman of the Transportation Committee. That year he passed S4524B, which let school districts install stop-arm cameras on buses, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it as Chapter 145 of 2019, according to the Senate bill page. “If you pass a stopped school bus in New York, you’re going to get caught,” he said, according to WKBW.
Kennedy, then a state senator, leading a Senate Transportation Committee meeting at the State Capitol in June 2020. He chaired the committee from 2019 until he left for Congress. (Photo: New York Senate Photo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
That same year he wrote limousine safety bills with families of the 20 people killed in the 2018 Schoharie crash. His seat belt bill, S6191C, passed 60 to 0 and became Chapter 10 of 2020, with Republican co-sponsors James Seward and James Tedisco. In his last Senate race, in 2022, he beat Conservative Faye Pietrak with 82.7 percent, according to Ballotpedia.
2024 general election vote share, upstate New York House Democrats
KennedyOther upstate House Democrats
Winner’s share of all votes cast in the November 2024 general election. Mannion’s figure is from complete unofficial returns. Sources: Monroe County Board of Elections certified results (Morelle), certified results compiled by Ballotpedia, and NBC News election returns (Kennedy, Mannion).
THE MOVE TO CONGRESS, 2023 TO 2024
When Higgins announced he would leave Congress, Kennedy entered the race in November 2023. “I’m going to take the same energy, drive, passion for the community and work ethic that I’ve used in the state capital,” he said at his launch, according to Spectrum News. He listed abortion rights and fighting illegal guns as early priorities.
In the April 30, 2024 special election he beat Republican Gary Dickson, the West Seneca supervisor, 48,050 to 21,982, or 68.5 percent, according to Ballotpedia. Turnout was low, about 70,000 votes. That November he beat Republican Anthony Marecki, who was not actively campaigning, 209,131 to 111,772, or 65.1 percent. PagPol found no contested 2026 primary.
THE DISTRICT AND THE PARTY MATH
The 26th District covers Buffalo and parts of Erie and Niagara counties. In February 2025 it had 242,550 active Democrats, 104,879 Republicans, and 114,033 voters with no party, out of 488,426, according to state Board of Elections enrollment figures. The Cook Political Report rates the seat Solid Democratic with a partisan lean of D+11.
In Washington, Kennedy serves in the minority of a narrowly divided House, which has 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, according to the House Clerk. His upstate neighbors are split, with fellow Democrats Joe Morelle and John Mannion to the east and Republicans Nick Langworthy and Claudia Tenney in the surrounding rural districts.
The Peace Bridge over the Niagara River, linking Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ontario. Kennedy co-chairs the House Northern Border Caucus. (Photo: JFVoll, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Kennedy sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, where he serves on the Emergency Management and Technology subcommittee and the Transportation and Maritime Security subcommittee. He also sits on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and its Economic Opportunity and Oversight and Investigations subcommittees, according to his House biography.
He co-chairs the Northern Border Caucus, a natural fit for a district that includes the Peace Bridge to Canada. His Homeland Security seat and border role have shaped most of the bills that have advanced. He holds no party leadership post in the House.
WHAT HE HAS PASSED IN CONGRESS
None of Kennedy’s House bills had become law as of PagPol’s review, but four have passed the House. The first was H.R. 862, the TSA Commuting Fairness Act, which passed in March 2025. H.R. 2721, the Honoring Our Heroes Act, followed in September 2025. Both now sit in Senate committees, according to the bill tracker Lobby News.
In July 2026 the House passed H.R. 3106, the WINTER Act, 400 to 7, according to Lobby News. In September 2026 it passed H.R. 9382, the NEXUS for Families Act, which would ease border crossing applications for families. Republicans Nick LaLota and Claudia Tenney and Democrat John Mannion co-sponsored it. “I am proud to lead the NEXUS for Families Act,” Kennedy said.
HIS VOTING RECORD IN CONGRESS
Kennedy votes with House Democrats on the major partisan bills. In January 2025 he voted against the Laken Riley Act, and in April he voted against the SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship to vote. In July 2025 he voted against final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 218 to 214, according to the House Clerk.
He has also sided with party leadership against its left wing. On June 24, 2025, he voted to table Rep. Al Green’s articles of impeachment against President Trump, joining 127 other Democrats while 79 opposed tabling, according to the House roll call. The AFL-CIO gives him a 100 percent lifetime score, and the League of Conservation Voters rates him at 97 percent for 2025.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
Kennedy has framed his time in Congress as a fight against the Republican majority. In 2024 he described it as “a MAGA, extreme Republican government that right now holds the gavel in the House of Representatives,” according to Spectrum News. “I never take anything for granted and we are working hard each and every day to deliver for our community,” he said.
His stated focus areas include veterans, the northern border, gun violence, health care, abortion rights, and labor. “I believe the track record that I have is reflective on a local and state level,” he told the Irish Echo in December 2023, pointing to his Albany laws as proof he could deliver in Washington.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Kennedy has raised about $2.69 million for the 2026 cycle through Sept. 30, 2026, and had about $1.29 million in cash on hand, according to his FEC filings. About $1.94 million came from individuals and about $726,000, or 27 percent, from political action committees. Only about 2 percent came from small, unitemized donations. PagPol found no FEC filings for Hannon.
Among nearby upstate House members, Mannion had raised about $3.14 million and Morelle about $2.21 million through Sept. 30. Tenney had raised about $2.76 million and Langworthy about $2.33 million through June 30, according to their FEC pages. Those two had not yet posted their September reports when PagPol checked.
2026 cycle campaign receipts, upstate New York House members
KennedyDemocratsRepublicans
Total campaign committee receipts for the 2025-26 cycle. Report dates differ: Tenney and Langworthy had not posted their Sept. 30 reports when PagPol checked. Source: Federal Election Commission.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
Questions about Kennedy’s spending go back to his early Senate years. In 2012, Investigative Post, citing Artvoice, reported he had spent about $1.6 million to win and keep a Senate seat paying $79,500 a year. His primaries with Grant were bitter. In their 2014 rematch she said he was “a whole lot more mean-spirited than he was before,” according to City & State.
In 2023, a year he was not on the ballot, his state Senate campaign account spent nearly $1.5 million, including about $334,000 on consultants, plus polling by a Washington firm, according to Investigative Post reporting in 2023 and 2024. “Those are not expenses an elected official typically incurs unless it’s an election year,” wrote Geoff Kelly of Investigative Post. Federal law bars using state campaign money for a federal race.
Kennedy’s office denied any wrongdoing. Chief of staff Adam Fogel said none of the spending was “made in service to the congressional campaign,” according to Investigative Post, which also reported that his Build Back New York PAC was funded primarily by real estate developers. In 2024 Dickson said, “This is not the coronation of Tim Kennedy.” PagPol found no ethics complaints or lawsuits against him.
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Kennedy says his state record shows he can deliver, and his Albany laws on child abuse, stalking, school buses, and limousines support that. In Washington the results are thinner so far. Several of his bills have passed the Republican-led House, but none has cleared the Senate. His border and veterans focus is consistent with the bills he has filed.
He casts himself as a fighter against Trump’s agenda, and his votes against the administration’s signature bills back that up. His vote to table impeachment, however, put him with party leaders rather than progressives. His money also complicates a grassroots image, since PACs supplied about 27 percent of his 2026 receipts. For another upstate Democrat’s House record, see PagPol’s profile of Paul Tonko.
Buffalo City Hall and the McKinley Monument in Niagara Square. Buffalo is the population center of the 26th District. (Photo: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
BUFFALO AND STATE AUDITS
Audits inside the district have found problems in schools and suburbs. In March 2025 the comptroller found North Tonawanda had not carried out six of 10 recommendations from an earlier review. In July 2025 it found the Cheektowaga-Maryvale school district did not sample or properly exempt 207 of 567 water outlets for lead, according to a lead testing audit.
The comptroller has also warned about Buffalo’s finances. A May 2026 Buffalo budget review projected a general fund deficit of about $103 million in the city’s 2026-27 budget and found the city had exhausted its fund balance. Mayor Sean Ryan, who requested the review, proposed a 25 percent tax levy increase, according to the comptroller.
LOOKING AHEAD
Kennedy faces Hannon on Nov. 3, 2026. Hannon, who grew up working in his father’s construction business, has said his priorities are “building safer communities, lowering costs for everyday people, and protecting kids both physically and online,” according to Spectrum News. For more, visit PagPol’s Erie County page or subscribe to the Erie County newsletter.
