About Patrick M. Gallivan

Senate Minority Whip

Republican, Conservative Republican, Conservative

District 60

Senator Patrick M. Gallivan represents the 60th Senate District, which includes southern and eastern Erie County, including the towns of Alden, Aurora, Boston, Brant, Clarence, Colden, Collins, Concord, Eden, Elma, Evans, Hamburg, Holland, Lancaster, Marilla, Newstead, North Collins, Orchard Park, Sardinia, Wales & West Seneca and the villages of Alden, Akron, Angola, Blasdell, Depew, East Aurora, Farnham. Gowanda, Hamburg, Lancaster, Newstead, North Collins, Orchard Park and Springville.  He also represents the Erie County portions of the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation and the Tonawanda Indian Reservation.  Senator Gallivan was first elected to the Senate in 2010. 

He serves as Senate Minority Whip and sits on numerous Senate committees. He is the Ranking Member of the Senate Standing Committee on Health and the Ranking Member of the Senate Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction.  Senator Gallivan also serves as a member of Senate Standing Committees on Finance; Transportation; Codes; and Rules.

Elected on a platform of ensuring the public trust and revitalizing the Western New York economy, Senator Gallivan has focused on fiscal responsibility, public safety, economic development, and properly representing taxpayers, sportsmen, and small businesses.

He played a central role in landmark accomplishments, including:

  • Enacting a 2% cap on local property taxes
  • Limiting state spending to less than 2% annually
  • Cutting middle class taxes to their lowest level in 50 years
  • Reducing the manufacturing tax rate to the lowest level since 1917
  • Cutting corporate taxes to the lowest rate since 1968

During his time in the Legislature, Senator Gallivan has introduced over 140 bills which have become law.  He drafted a transformational piece of legislation to reform Medicaid’s broken and antiquated cost structure. A portion of this legislation has been adopted and has saved local governments and taxpayers approximately $30-billion over the past 12 years.

Senator Gallivan led the fight to save the WNY Children’s Psychiatric Center in West Seneca and secured more than $100-million in funding for local hospitals, libraries and other community organizations.  He also helped establish the Upstate Film Tax Credit, which has been instrumental in bringing numerous television and movie productions to the region.

Gallivan has also authored legislation to reform onerous, outdated, duplicative and unnecessary regulations on private business.  He co-chaired a series of forums across the state and helped author a report identifying over two thousand burdensome and unnecessary regulations and why they should be eliminated. 

Senator Gallivan has defended the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens, was successful in legalizing the use of crossbows during archery season in NYS and is a strong backer of sportsmen and women. 

As a twice-elected Sheriff of Erie County and a former New York State Trooper, Gallivan brings an extensive background in law enforcement to the State Senate.  He has secured funding to provide Resource Officers to school districts, has supported community-based programs to combat domestic violence and to enhance the rights of crime victims.

Senator Gallivan is a fierce advocate for education and for veterans.  He has fought to increase aid to schools and to make sure all regions of the state get their fair share of funding.  He has also introduced and helped pass legislation to support men and women who have served our military, including dozens of highway designations to honor veterans and ensure their service and sacrifice is forever remembered. 

Prior to representing the citizens of Western New York in the Senate, Patrick Gallivan served upstate New York’s most populous county, Erie, as Sheriff from 1998 through 2005. Before being elected Sheriff, Gallivan served 15 years in the New York State Police, rising through the ranks from Trooper to Captain.

Gallivan is also a small business owner, founding and operating a full service professional investigation and security firm. In addition, Gallivan previously served as a Member of the New York State Board of Parole. He holds a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York at Albany and is a graduate of Canisius College in Buffalo. Gallivan has also received numerous awards and honors for his long and distinguished service to the community and has served numerous professional, charitable, civic and fraternal organizations. 

Senator Gallivan lives in Elma with his wife, Mary Pat.  They have two children, Jenna and Conor, and recently celebrated the birth of their first grandchild.