Alfred "Al" Coppola is a former

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. A resident of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, Coppola is a long time political figure in the city, who served briefly as the 57th District member in the New York Senate at the turn of the 21st century. A longtime member of the

Buffalo Common Council The Buffalo Common Council is the legislative branch of the city of Buffalo, New York government. It is a representative assembly, with one elected member from each of nine districts: Niagara, Delaware, Masten, Ellicott, Lovejoy, Fillmore, Nort ...

, representing the city's Delaware District, Coppola was nominated by Democratic Party leaders in

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

and

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

Counties in a February 2000 special election to fill a vacancy in the State Senate. The vacancy was created after State Sen.

Anthony Nanula Anthony R. Nanula (born December 9, 1965) is an American real estate developer, investment banker, political leader, and philanthropist from Buffalo, New York. Anthony Nanula is the Chief Investment Officer of Sinatra & Company Real Estate. He a ...

resigned to become Buffalo City Comptroller. Coppola defeated Niagara County Legislator Renae Kimble, a Democrat running on the Republican line, to win the Senate seat. As a senator, Coppola represented parts of Buffalo and Tonawanda and all of

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

and Grand Island. He focused much of his legislative program on energy issues during his tenure in Albany. Coppola lost the September 2000 primary for a full two-year second term in the Senate to City of Buffalo Councilmember

Byron Brown Byron William Brown II (born September 24, 1958) is an American politician who is the current mayor of Buffalo, New York. He has served as Buffalo's 62nd mayor since January 2006, the City's first African-American mayor and longest serving ...

. Coppola continued his reelection campaign into the general election as the nominee of the Conservative and Independence Parties. He lost to Brown, but did finish ahead of Republican nominee Bob Woolworth. Coppola unsuccessfully challenged Brown in the 2002 and 2004 Democratic primaries for the Senate seat which in 2002 was renamed the 60th district and as the Republican nominee in the general election those years. In 2005 he made a short-lived bid for the Democratic nomination for

Mayor of Buffalo The following is a list of people who have served as mayors of the city of Buffalo in the U.S. state of New York. List of mayors Number of mayors by party affiliation History In 1853, the charter of the city was amended to include the town ...

, a nomination which eventually went to Brown. After Brown resigned the Senate seat to become mayor, Coppola briefly pursued the Democratic nomination to run in the special election. This nomination went to his cousin, Marc Coppola, who had succeeded him as council member. Al Coppola challenged his cousin, Senator Marc Coppola and

Antoine Thompson Antoine Maurice Thompson (born March 1, 1970) is an American politician from Buffalo, New York. A Democrat, Thompson represented the 60th District in the New York State Senate from 2007 to 2011. Thompson previously served as the Masten Distr ...

, who had been endorsed by Brown in the 2006 Democratic primary for the Senate seat. The race was won by

. In 2008 Thompson was successful against Buffalo attorney Mark J. Grisanti who ran against him in the Democratic primary. He was unopposed in that year's general election. In 2010 Thompson won the 2010 Democratic primary with 56% of the vote against challengers Al Coppola and local businessman Rory Allen. Republican and Conservative candidate Mark J. Grisanti won narrowly in the general election. Coppola ran for the office again in the September 13, 2012 primary election against endorsed Democrat Michael L. Amodeo and Charles Swanick, a former member of the Erie County legislature. Amodeo won the election, Coppola came in third. Coppola ran for this seat in the Democratic primary on September 9, 2014 against

Marc Panepinto Marc C. Panepinto is an American attorney and Democratic politician from New York State. Panepinto graduated from The University at Buffalo School of Law. He is a founding partner at the Buffalo law firm of Dolce Panepinto. Panepinto was convic ...

while incumbent Mark Grisanti will face Kevin T. Stocker in the Republican primary. Timothy D. Gallagher is running on the Conservative Party ticket.Ballotpedia
/ref> Panepinto won the nomination.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppola, Al Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from Buffalo, New York Living people Year of birth missing (living people)