Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz’s campaign just announced that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has formally endorsed the WNY Democrat in his campaign to oust GOP Erie County Executive Chris Collins.

The endorsement is coming via press release – for the moment. But, according to the Poloncarz campaign, the governor will be making a trip west to hit the hustings with the candidate “in the coming days.” In the meantime, here’s his statement:

“Mark has done an outstanding job as Erie County Comptroller. He has rooted out waste and fraud and fought hard to protect the taxpayers of Erie County. He will make the tough decisions necessary to reform Erie County government.”

“His experience and commitment make him the clear choice to move Erie County into the future, and I look forward to working with him to strengthen the economy of Western New York and improve the quality of life for all the people of the county. I urge you to vote for Mark Poloncarz for Erie County Executive.”

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. As I wrote last week, it would be very helpful for Cuomo to have Collins out of the way when 2014 rolls around. And since the Siena poll – rejected by the Collins camp – showed Poloncarz within striking distance, it stands to reason that the state’s most popular Democrat would at least lend his name to help his party out in a local race.

After all, he already did as much – more, actually, in the form of an in-person appearanceat a fundraiser, for Democratic Suffolk County executive candidate Steve Bellone, who’s running for the office being vacated by another short-lived 2010 Cuomo rival, Democrat-turned-Republican Executive Steve Levy.

It will be interesting to see just how deeply involved Cuomo gets in the Poloncarz-Collins race. The state Democratic Party, which he controls, is already deeply involved. But, as the Buffalo News’ Bob McCarthy noted recently, Erie County Democratic politics is not easily navigated – as state Democratic Party Executive Director Charlie King knows all too well.

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