Al Coppola

Al Coppola is a former state senator and politician in New York. A resident of Buffalo, New York, Coppola is a long time political figure in the city, who served briefly in the Senate at the turn of the century.

A longtime member of the Buffalo Common Council, representing the city's Delaware District, Coppola was nominated by Democratic Party leaders in Erie and Niagara Counties in a February 2000 special election to fill a vacancy in the State Senate. The vacancy was created after State Sen. Anthony Nanula resigned to become Buffalo City Comptroller. Coppola defeated Niagara County Legislator Renae Kimble, a Democrat running on the Republican line, to win the Senate seat. As a senator, Coppola represented parts of Buffalo and Tonawanda and all of Niagara Falls and Grand Island. He focused much of his legislative program on energy issues during his tenure in Albany.

Coppola lost the September 2000 primary for a full two-year second term in the Senate by Buffalo Councilman Byron Brown. Coppola continued his reelection campaign into the general election as the nominee of the Conservative and Independence Parties. He lost to Brown, but did finish ahead of Republican nominee Bob Woolworth.

Coppola unsuccessfully challenged Brown in the 2002 and 2004 Democratic primaries and as the Republican nominee in the general election those years. In 2005 he made a short-lived bid for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Buffalo, a nomination which eventually went to Brown. After Brown resigned the Senate seat to become mayor, Coppola briefly pursued the Democratic nomination to run in the special election. This nomination went to his cousin, Marc Coppola, who had succeeded him as a councilman.

Al Coppola challenged Senator Marc Coppola in the 2006 Democratic primary for the Senate seat. However, the race was won by Antoine Thompson, who had been endorsed by Brown.