The Congressional race between Democrat Alice Kryzan and Republican Christopher Lee is one of the most intense in the region, and for good reason. Incumbent Republican Tom Reynolds announced earlier this year that he wouldn't seek re-election, leaving the 26th District seat wide open.

The two political newcomers are making their appeals to the 440,000 registered voters in the district: 40 percent are Republicans, 32 percent are Democrats, and 21 percent are unaffiliated. Though anchored in the Buffalo-Niagara region, the district sprawls across Western New York and includes the northern suburbs of Buffalo, the western suburbs of Rochester, and some of Niagara and Orleans Counties. It also includes all of Livingston, Wyoming, and Genesee Counties.

Lee worked for his family's manufacturing business before it was sold. He's using that as a major selling point in his campaign, saying that he has experience in finance and creating jobs.

The Lee campaign did not respond to repeated requests by City Newspaper for an interview - and we're not the only Western New York media outlet to have that problem.

Still, Lee has put some of his platform on the record during a televised debate. He supports the Bush tax cuts and he doesn't want to see them expire.

Politicians shouldn't dictate a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, he said.

Lee supports expanded domestic drilling, including opening ANWR. He said that conservation measures are necessary and he backs investment in alternative energy research. But he said that the investment should be limited because of the poor economy.

To help with health-care costs, Lee said that he wants increased focus on preventive medicine and wider use of computer-based patient record systems.

"I don't think we need to be spending more on health care," he said. "We need to be doing it more efficiently and getting the private sector involved so that we can find innovative ways to save money."

Lee's positions on same-sex marriage and abortion are unknown. But he did tell the Buffalo News in a September 13 article that "At the end of the day, it's up to the woman, the family, and her doctor to decide" on abortion.

Kryzan says to let the Bush tax cuts expire. Taxes should be cut for middle-class families, she says, but not for people making more than $250,000 a year. If Congress does that and US leaders get us out of Iraq, there will be more money to invest in domestic priorities, like alternative energy development, she says.

A career environmental attorney, Kryzan has an agenda with a heavy environmental focus. Investing in green energy technologies will help the district, which she says is "uniquely poised" to take advantage of growth in the field. The local universities can do research and development and the technology can be transferred to business.

Kryzan says that more oil drilling isn't the answer to rising energy costs and she opposes opening up ANWR for energy exploration.

In August, before the financial crisis reached a fever pitch, Kryzan told City Newspaper that Congress needs to better regulate banking and mortgage institutions.

She opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, she says, and supports shifting from military operations to diplomacy and economic development efforts.

To help drive down the cost of health insurance, Kryzan says that she wants a government plan that is competitive with plans offered by private companies. How exactly that could be done needs to be debated, she says.

Kryzan is pro-choice. She opposes amending the Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and woman, and wants to extend federal benefits and protections to same-sex couples on the same basis they'd be given to opposite-sex couples. As for the rights of states to define marriage, she says that she'd take her cues from the LGBT community.