popular supermarket. Over the course of several days, the County vaccinated and inoculated 10,000 people to protect the public. In January 2010, two Republican Members of the New York State Assembly (including Republican Assemblyman Joseph Errigo), claimed that Collins had behaved inappropriately at Gov. David Paterson's State of the State address. According to the two assemblymembers, the event was crowded, and Collins made the following comment to a female attendee: "I'm sure if you offer someone a lap dance you can find a place to sit." Collins denied making the comment, and claimed that there was a "political smear campaign" going on against him. During his lame duck period as Chief Executive, Collins proposed spending $6 million to upgrade housing for polar bears at Buffalo Zoo at the same time as he proposed to lay off 155 workers. Political future Beginning in 2009, Collins was mentioned as a potential candidate for Governor of New York in the 2010 election, particularly if Rudy Giuliani decided not to run. In January 2010, Collins announced that he would not run for governor that year. Before he lost his 2011 bid for re-election, Collins was mentioned as a potential candidate in the 2014 gubernatorial election. In 2013, Collins disclaimed any interest in running for Governor in 2014. U.S. House of Representatives Elections 1998 In 1998, Collins challenged 24-year incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman John J. LaFalce in New York's 29th congressional district. During the campaign, Collins was one of the first congressional candidates to call for President Bill Clinton's resignation in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. LaFalce touted his record of bringing home the bacon and defeated Collins by a margin of 58% to 41%. 2012 After losing his County Executive re-election campaign in 2011, Collins initially ruled out a future bid for elected office. In January 2012, he was reported to be considering running for Congress and on March 25, 2012, Collins announced he was running in New York's newly drawn 27th Congressional District. The district had previously been the 26th District, and had long been a Republican bastion. However, in a 2011 special election, Democratic Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul became the first Democrat to represent the district since 1971. On June 26, 2012, Collins won the Republican primary, defeating Iraq War veteran David Bellavia 60%–40%. Collins had the Republican and Conservative party lines for the November general election and defeated