Benefiting from a well-funded and well-run campaign in his first bid for public office, Poloncarz soundly defeated Republican challenger John J. Canavan. With 84 percent of the polling precincts reporting, Poloncarz was winning 108,468 to 73,113 over Canavan, earning 56 percent the vote to Canavan's 38 percent.

Conservative-endorsed candidate Robert E. Whelan garnered 7 percent of the vote.

"I believe the voters of Erie County have responded to my message of independent leadership," Poloncarz said. "To the voters of Erie County, I'm humbled by their support of my candidacy. The issues of Erie County are not Democratic issues; they are not Republican issues; they are county issues."

He said that shortly after taking office he wants to review 2006 budget figures and make sure the county can pay off any outstanding debts to its vendors.

"It's not their fault we're in this fiscal crisis," he said.

A Western New York native, Poloncarz, 37, was born in Buffalo and raised in Lackawanna.

Eight years after graduating with a degree in political science from the University at Buffalo, Poloncarz earned his law degree, with a business law concentration, from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1997.

He returned to Buffalo and worked as a business and corporate attorney for Watson, Bennett, Colligan, Johnson and Schechter from 1998 to 2000, then joined Kavinoky Cook in 2000 as a business and finance lawyer.

His interest in local politics shifted into high gear last year when he took on the job as the Western New York coordinator for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign.

Poloncarz stresses the need for more aggressive, independent financial reporting from the comptroller's office.

Poloncarz's agenda reflects a desire for the comptroller to serve in a more public and activist role. In some cases, that includes refusing to sign checks for legislative or executive appropriations he considers an inappropriate use of county money.

Unlike opponent John Canavan, Poloncarz supports the County Legislature's four-year plan as a good first step toward financial recovery and opposes a hard control board for Erie County.

Canavan, a commercial real estate consultant, had a strong corporate financial background prior to coming to Buffalo six years ago. Whelan, a former City of Buffalo comptroller and retired State Supreme Court judge, lost the Democratic primary against Poloncarz in September but ran on the Conservative line.