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Kevin Hardwick

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Kevin Hardwick
Image of Kevin Hardwick

Democratic Party

Candidate, Erie County Comptroller

Erie County Comptroller
Tenure

2022 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

3

Predecessor
Prior offices
Erie County Legislature District 4
Successor: John Bargnesi
Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 2, 2021

Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

Bachelor's

State University of New York at Binghamton, 1979

Ph.D

State University of New York at Binghamton, 1988

Personal
Religion
Catholic
Profession
Chief financial officer
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Kevin Hardwick (Democratic Party) is the Erie County Comptroller in New York. He assumed office on January 1, 2022. His current term ends on January 1, 2026.

Hardwick (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) is running for re-election for Erie County Comptroller in New York. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[sources: 1, 2] The Working Families Party and Democratic primaries for this office on June 24, 2025, were canceled.

Hardwick completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Hardwick switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in December 2018.[1]

Elections

2025

See also: Municipal elections in Erie County, New York (2025)

General election

General election for Erie County Comptroller

Incumbent Kevin Hardwick and Christine M. Czarnik are running in the general election for Erie County Comptroller on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
Image of Kevin Hardwick
Kevin Hardwick (D / Working Families Party) Candidate Connection
Image of Christine M. Czarnik
Christine M. Czarnik (R / Conservative Party)

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kevin Hardwick advanced from the Democratic primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Christine M. Czarnik advanced from the Republican primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Christine M. Czarnik advanced from the Conservative Party primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kevin Hardwick advanced from the Working Families Party primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2021

See also: Municipal elections in Erie County, New York (2021)

General election

General election for Erie County Comptroller

Kevin Hardwick defeated Lynne Dixon and Duane Whitmer in the general election for Erie County Comptroller on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kevin Hardwick
Kevin Hardwick (D / Working Families Party / Integrity Party)
 
53.3
 
119,284
Image of Lynne Dixon
Lynne Dixon (R / Conservative Party)
 
45.8
 
102,528
Image of Duane Whitmer
Duane Whitmer (L)
 
0.8
 
1,758
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
136

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 223,706
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kevin Hardwick advanced from the Democratic primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Lynne Dixon advanced from the Republican primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled. Lynne Dixon advanced from the Conservative Party primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Duane Whitmer advanced from the Libertarian primary for Erie County Comptroller.

Working Families Party primary election

The Working Families Party primary election was canceled. Kevin Hardwick advanced from the Working Families Party primary for Erie County Comptroller.

2019

See also: Municipal elections in Erie County, New York (2019)

General election

General election for Erie County Legislature District 4

Incumbent Kevin Hardwick defeated Jacob McMahon in the general election for Erie County Legislature District 4 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kevin Hardwick
Kevin Hardwick (D)
 
53.4
 
11,579
Image of Jacob McMahon
Jacob McMahon (R) Candidate Connection
 
46.6
 
10,102

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 21,681
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kevin Hardwick advanced from the Democratic primary for Erie County Legislature District 4.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Jacob McMahon advanced from the Republican primary for Erie County Legislature District 4.

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Erie County, New York (2017)

Erie County in New York held a general election for county officials on November 7, 2017. A primary election was held on September 12, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates in this election was July 13, 2017. All 11 county legislators were up for election, as well as the county clerk, sheriff, and comptroller.[2]

Incumbent Kevin Hardwick (Republican/Independence/Reform/Working Families) defeated Brian Phillips (Women's Equality Party) in the Erie County Legislature, District 4 general election.[3]

Erie County Legislature, District 4 General Election, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican/Independence/Reform/Working Families Green check mark transparent.png Kevin Hardwick Incumbent 87.18% 16,543
     Women's Equality Party Brian Phillips 12.82% 2,433
Total Votes 18,976
Source: Erie County, NY, Board of Elections, "Erie County Races, Official Tally of Election Results," accessed December 18, 2017

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Kevin Hardwick completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hardwick's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. I have been a political science professor at Canisius University for 36 years. During that time I have taught the American Government, Public Administration and Public Policy courses. I am also a past school board, town board, city council and county legislature member. As a result, I have a good handle on government in New York State. In addition, my doctoral dissertation was on the delivery of county services. For the past 4 years, I have practiced the type of good government I have preached to my students for years. I am proud of my family, my students and the work I have done as Erie County Comptroller.
  • Four years ago, I promised to return leadership, respect and integrity to the Office of Erie County Comptroller. I have done that. Along the way, I have been dubbed "eminently sensible" by the Editorial Board of the Buffalo News.
  • Our audits have saved taxpayers millions of dollars. Our examination of the County Clerk's Office uncovered a $300,000+ counterfeit check and caught an employee embezzling another $300,000+. Then we worked with the County Clerk to improve his operations. We supported his requests to the County Legislature for additional finance staff and new software for his office. We went to bat for him because it was the right thing to do. Similarly, we have worked with other departments following our audits in order to help them improve also. We did not hold press conferences to point out the failings of our auditees. We just quietly went about our work of improving county government. For me, that is what good government is all about.
  • Our responsible investment of county monies has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in interest income for the county. Every dollar we have made in interest is a dollar we don't have to raise in property taxes.
Making sure that government runs efficiently and effectively as possible. Our audits have gone a long way towards making this happen. But we are just getting started. I am also a proponent of regional cooperation and have devoted a great deal of my time to researching this issue. When governments work together, everybody benefits.
My parents. They never went to college. But they were determined that their 4 children would and that their children would have better lives. They succeeded.
Honest, integrity and a willingness to work with others.
Good husband, father and public servant.
I was 6 and in first grade when President Kennedy was assassinated. I recall the impact it had on all the adults in my life from my teacher at school when the loudspeaker announced the death of the president to my mother's tears when I arrived home. I recall the shock and horror of the shooting of Oswald on live TV and the solemnity of the presidential funeral and burial at Arlington.
As the father of 4, my wife and I struggled for years to make ends meet. We lived paycheck to paycheck for decades. So I remember what it was like to live on a diet of cheap pasta, raid the change jar and borrow money from my children. This is why I understand how important it is to save taxpayers every dollar that we can.
The Erie County Charter gives the Comptroller subpoena power. Although tempted, I have been reluctant to use this power. I would still utilize it as a last resort. I would, however, prefer to work with others, even if this takes longer.
Absolutely. County Comptroller is a major public administrative post. New York State and Local Government is complex, much more so than most other states.
The ability to manage a large public administrative organization. Erie County has a $2 million+ budget and needs someone who has sufficient knowledge of public administration theories and practice. I have taught the Public Administration courses at Canisius University for three and half decades and have been an elected school, town, city and county official in New York State.
Because honesty and integrity still matter
I was first elected to a school board ate age of 18. It was my final day of classes in high school and the only day I ever had detention.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2021

Kevin Hardwick did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Kevin Hardwick did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

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External links

Candidate

Erie County Comptroller
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Buffalo News, "Kevin Hardwick switching to County Legislature's Democratic caucus," December 18, 2018
    2. ↑ Erie County Board of Elections, accessed June 1, 2017
    3. ↑ Erie County Board of Elections, "2017 Petitions Filed," accessed July 14, 2017
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    Stefan Mychajliw Jr. (R)     		Erie County Comptroller
    2022 - Present     		Succeeded by
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