CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The Capitol is reporting that billionaire and three-time gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano is planning to pour millions of dollars into the fight for the Senate majority.

Golisano is planning to start his own 527 organization and spend up to $1 million on each candidate he supports - mostly Democrats, but he has not ruled out supporting Republicans. From the story:

Golisano will be supporting Erie County Legislator Kathy Konst (D) in her bid to unseat State Sen. Dale Volker (R-Erie), former boxer Joe Mesi (D) in his primary bid to succeed retiring Sen. Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie) and former State Sen. Rick Dollinger (D-Monroe) in his bid to unseat Sen. Joe Robach (R-Monroe), though Golisano is unlikely to announce these specific candidates at his press conference next week.

This is interesting, as the Buffalo News has a story today with Konst saying that she is “under heavy pressure” to abandon her Congressional bid to run for the state Senate instead. In the story, she talks about meeting with Golisano.

Konst, meanwhile, brings some personal ability to finance the campaign, and said she hopes to get support from Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano, a former gubernatorial candidate who in the past has helped Republicans running for the State Senate.

She said she has met with him and expects his support.

If Golisano decides throw his weight and money behind these candidates, it could change the playing field significantly for the Senate Democrats. Senate Republicans still maintain a fundraising advantage over the Democrats. In these sorts of races, there are diminishing returns as you go up into the millions for each race, but there is a base amount necessary to put a race in play. Golisano’s support of a few specific candidates would allow the Democrats to distribute more resources to fewer fronts and elevate a race that wasn’t even on the radar, such as in Volker’s district, to a Tier 1 race.