Dr. Kevin Hardwick of political science department runs for reelection

By Mikayla Boyd, Editor-in-Chief

If you’re a political science major, honors student or even an early bird who chooses those 8 a.m. classes, you may have taken a class with Dr. Kevin Hardwick, associate professor of political science. What you may not know, though, is that since January 2022, Hardwick has balanced his responsibilities as a professor at Canisius with holding elected office as Erie County Comptroller. Ever since, Hardwick has been teaching a reduced load, beginning with an 8 a.m. class each morning and then making his way downtown to the Rath Building for his comptroller role. 

As Erie County Comptroller, Hardwick is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Auditing Officer for Erie County, which has an annual budget of $2.1 billion. Just last year, Hardwick supervised the sale of county bonds to support the construction of the new Bills stadium. Over the last four years, the Office of the Comptroller’s investments have earned over $80 million in interest. 

Hardwick enjoys exposing his students to county government and its roles and responsibilities when he can. In years past, he has involved a public administration class in doing research for the Comptroller’s office. In his classes this semester, students get a glimpse into what a countywide campaign looks like – they have seen ads before the public and have been briefed on campaign strategy decisions in real time. Hardwick’s passions for being both a public servant and a professor are intertwined in his eyes: “For the last 36 years, I have taught good government to my political science majors at Canisius. For the last four years as Erie County Comptroller, I've practiced what I preached.”

Early voting will be open through Sunday, Nov. 2, and election day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. For more information, including how and where to vote, please visit https://elections.erie.gov/.