Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American former politician who was the U.S. representative for New York's 26th congressional district, from 2005 until 2024. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 and as the 26th from 2013 to 2024, included Buffalo and Niagara Falls, along with some surrounding urban and suburban areas. Higgins is a member of the Democratic Party, and of several congressional committees and caucuses. He was born and raised Buffalo, New York, before obtaining a bachelor's and master's from Buffalo State College and an MPA from Harvard University.
Early life, education, and career
Brian Higgins was born on October 6, 1959, in Buffalo, New York. A native of South Buffalo, Higgins served on the Buffalo Common Council (city council) from 1988 to 1993, representing the South District. Higgins's grandparents were from Ireland.
In 1993, during his final year on the Council, Higgins was rated "Buffalo's Best Lawmaker" in a 1993 Buffalo News Survey of Western New York business and community leaders. Responding to the survey were 158 business, community, and government leaders in Western New York. Higgins earned the highest rating of any political leader, with a 3.81 out of a possible score of 5. The Buffalo News wrote of Higgins: "During his 5 1/2 years on the Council, he has earned a reputation as a thoughtful, soft-spoken lawmaker who has paid attention to both district and citywide concerns." One community leader said, "Brian is a very bright, responsible public official", while a government leader said of Higgins, "The best Councilman in Buffalo. Has great vision."
Higgins graduated from Buffalo State College with a BA in political science in 1984 and an MA in history in 1985. He received an MPA from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1996. Higgins has taught courses on state and local government, and the economic history of Buffalo and Western New York, in Buffalo State College's history and economics departments. He served as the 145th district representative to the New York State Assembly from 1999 to 2004.
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.
Higgins has positioned himself as a centrist, although his voting record in the House has placed him close to the center of his party. 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 New York Power Authority as part of the Niagara Power Project 50-year relicensing agreement. He is an advocate for economic development and job creation, and played a pivotal role through his membership on the House's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in securing approval for the construction of a new federal courthouse in downtown Buffalo.
Higgins strongly advocates for increased federal funding for cancer research, as Buffalo is home to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the nation's first major medical facility devoted exclusively to treating cancer, with cancer research as its main mission.
In 2006, Higgins and Representatives James T. Walsh and Tim Murphy met with several government leaders in Ireland and announced confirmation of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) weapons decommissioning. Government leaders with whom the three met included Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain, US Ambassador to Ireland James C. Kenny, US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Robert H. Tuttle, and the leadership of each of the main political parties involved in the process for peace.
Regarding Higgins' visit to Ireland in association with the peace talks, Higgins stated on his congressional website on January 20, 2006:
I was honored to represent the United States at this important moment in the Irish peace process. My colleagues and I went to Ireland and the United Kingdom to focus international intention on the stalled negotiations and to build momentum for the fulfillment of the Good Friday Accords. While we met with leaders from different nationalities, political parties, and religious faiths, each discussion was filled with hope and the common belief that lasting peace can finally reach all residents of Northern Ireland.
Higgins has also supported efforts for peace in South Asia and Africa, and the Middle East, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Darfur.
Higgins received an "A+" on the 2007 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues from the Drum Major Institute, which describes itself as "providing the ideas that fuel the progressive movement."
Several media outlets named Higgins as one of the leading candidates to succeed Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate after she became Secretary of State in an Obama administration. He was one of six candidates on New York Governor David Paterson's "short list" for the position; a WKBW-TV poll showed 75% of respondents on the station's website would support Higgins's nomination. In the end, Paterson appointed Representative Kirsten Gillibrand. On January 31, 2009, Higgins led a delegation of Western New York elected leaders in welcoming Gillibrand to the region, moderating an economic roundtable discussion held at the Bioinformatics Center of Excellence, on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.