Dunning on Reed and Coccho

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader opinion page [pdf], which includes Joe Dunning's column on two Corning politicians. One of them, Corning Mayor Tom Reed, has been mentioned as a possible opponent for Eric Massa. The other, Frank Coccho, had Reed's job until a spectacular crash and burn, and he's thinking about running again.

Dunning doesn't think either man will win. In the case of Reed, he cites two powerful reasons: name recognition and money. Anyone running for Massa's job will have to raise $2-3 million and become a known entity in Rochester. That's a tall order for Reed.

In theory, the 29th is a competitive district and Massa is in danger of losing his seat. In practice, it's tough to find someone to take a risk running against him, since he'll be well-financed and so far, as Dunning says, "Massa has done a pretty good job doing what he said he was going to do".