to the New York State Assembly from 1999 to 2004. U.S. House of Representatives Elections Jack Quinn, a moderate Republican who had represented the heavily Democratic 27th since 1993, unexpectedly announced his retirement in 2004. In April 2004, Higgins entered the race, and narrowly defeated then-Erie County Comptroller Nancy Naples. After the 2000 redistricting, the district was made slightly friendlier for Quinn (in part, by adding mostly rural Chautauqua County), but was still at the time the most Democratic district in the country represented by a Republican. Since Higgins's initial election, the district has since reverted to form, and Higgins was reelected without serious difficulty, never receiving less than 60% of the vote. He easily dispatched his 2008 and 2010 opponents even after they posted six-figure fundraising numbers. In 2006 and 2008, Higgins garnered more than 70% of the vote. For his first four terms, Higgins represented the southern two-thirds of Buffalo, as well as Chautauqua County. After the 2010 census, his district was renumbered as the 26th, and a special master redrew it to be much more compact and Democratic. He picked up the rest of Buffalo, as well as several inner-ring suburbs that used to be in the territory of Louise Slaughter, while losing Chautauqua County to its traditional Southern Tier district. He also picked up a large portion of Niagara County, including all of North Tonawanda and 99% of Niagara Falls. Higgins has received financial contributions for his campaigns from many business executives in Western New York throughout his tenure in Congress. In 2012, his reelection committee raised more than $1,000,000, with approximately 2/3 coming from individual donors, representing major businesses in Western New York. Tenure Higgins has positioned himself as a centrist. In 1998, he ran for the Assembly on the Democratic and Conservative party lines, and in 2000 and 2004 he ran with both parties' endorsements, as well as that of the Working Families Party. Higgins describes himself as a pro-union moderate who wants to spur job growth. He has said he supports allowing seniors to buy prescription drugs from Canada, and one of his priorities in Congress is legislation allowing the government to negotiate for volume discounts on drugs. He has also said he wants Congress to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals. Higgins procured $279 million over 50 years for Erie County's various governments and agencies from the