Former Buffalo Congressman Chris Collins Getting Back Into Politics

The 2026 election season is well underway, and it has big implications all over the place. From right here in Western New York to all the way in Washington DC, and everywhere in between.

In New York State, not only are we poised to elect new people into both houses of the New York State Legislature, the US House of Representatives are up, along with New York State Attorney General, Comptroller, and Governor.

While there is a lot of news floating around about the pending election for Governor as Kathy Hochul looks to be re-elected, while Bruce Blakeman and Antonio Delgado are looking to take over her seat, there is one election that's happening in Florida that people in the Empire State might want to pay attention to.

Chris Collins, Former WNY Politician & Businessman, Running For Office In Florida

Before getting into politics, Chris Collins was a successful businessman after spending time as a mechanical engineer at Westinghouse Electric and as President and CEO of Nuttall Gear Corporation.

Collins first entered politics when he was elected as the Erie County Executive in 2007, taking over from Dennis Gorski. After one term as the leader of Erie County, Collins was later elected to Congress to represent New York's 27th Congressional District, a position he held until he was arrested and later pleaded guilty to felony insider trading in 2019. Collins resigned from Congress and was sentenced to 26 months in prison at the Pensacola Federal Prison Camp.

Collins didn't spend much time behind bars as President Trump pardoned him after just two months behind bars.

Now, with a clean record, Collins is getting back into politics and is running for Congress in Florida. He's seeking to take over Florida's 19th congressional district from Byron Donald, who's currently running for Florida Governor. The 19th district covers Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, and Naples, Florida regions.

If Collins is elected to Congress in Florida, he would become only the third person to serve in Congress from two separate states.