Mark Heberling, chairman of the Cattaraugus County Republican Committee, was re-elected regional vice chairman of the New York GOP’s western region during the party’s reorganizational meeting in Albany this week.

In the role, Heberling serves as chairman of county Republican chairs from Western New York’s counties, which along with Cattaraugus include Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Chautauqua and Allegany counties.

“I’m really honored to be chosen by my peers for this position again,” Heberling of Farmersville said after the Wednesday meeting of the statewide party. “I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with these people within the party in New York.”

He is one of six Upstate New York vice chairmen in the GOP, each representing a geographic region in Upstate.

Ed Cox, statewide Republican chairman, was re-elected to his post as well.

Heberling was first elected chairman by the Cattaraugus County GOP Committee in September 2022, succeeding Robert C. Keis Sr. A retired state Department of Transportation employee, Heberling had served as deputy supervisor in Farmersville, where he waged the battle against the Alle-Catt Wind project.

He and his wife, Ginger Schroder, an attorney and county legislator, operate Waverly Pond Farm in Farmersville and are involved in community-supported agriculture as well.

Heberling said much of the discussion during the GOP meeting in Albany was about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder and influential conservative activist, who was slain Sept. 10 on a university campus in Utah. A moment of silence was held to remember and honor Kirk, who was credited with rallying more young people to the Republican side during the 2024 campaign for president between former President Joe Biden and then-former President Donald Trump.

“(Kirk) was so dynamic and just had that ability to reach out, not just to young people but to people of all ages, and really engage in a positive way,” Heberling said of Kirk. “It really is a tragedy that he was taken away — a young husband and father who had so much to give. And it’s really un-American to see him eliminated like that.”

Heberling said the grief — as well as the anger — that people have felt in the aftermath of Kirk’s shooting death is a testament to the regard with which he was held by conservatives. He also said filling the void — finding someone with as much energy and ability to engage even with people who vehemently disagreed with him — will be difficult for the conservative movement.

On another topic, Heberling said the New York GOP is already looking ahead to 2026 and the gubernatorial campaign in the state. Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who represents the North Country, is widely expected to officially declare her candidacy for the nomination to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of Buffalo.

Heberling said Stefanik, who has served in the U.S. House since Jan. 3, 2015, is the clear choice of the GOP in the state — despite Siena poll results revealed earlier this week that she significantly trails Hochul in a hypothetical race.

Stefanik, a Harvard University graduate, gained national prominence for her questioning of university presidents during a December 2023 congressional hearing on antisemitism and is a major supporter of Trump. She was vehement in Trump’s defense during impeachment proceedings in the House in 2019 and she supported Trump in his claims of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election.

In January, Trump nominated Stefanik as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations but withdrew the nomination in March, asking her to stay in the House due to the slim Republican majority.