Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Joe Burns is a partner with Holtzman Vogel and focuses his practice on representing candidates and party committees in election cases throughout New York State.
Prior to joining the firm, Joe served as Deputy Director of Election Operations at the New York State Board of Elections. In this role, he worked with county Boards of Elections, candidates, and party committees, and was involved in New York State's transition from lever to optical scan voting. He also conducted hearings for the NYSBOE and represented it in court proceedings.
Additionally, Joe has served as an attorney for the Erie County and New York State Republican Committees, and has also represented candidates for a variety of public offices throughout New York State, including candidates for U.S. Congress and New York State Supreme Court.
From 2018 to 2024, Joe was the Deputy Administrative Director for the Erie County Water Authority; and from 2015 to 2018, he was the Secretary to the Erie County Water Authority.
A life-long resident of Upstate New York and active member of the Western New York community, Joe served as vice chair of the Erie County Charter Revision Commission in 2016 and was a member of the Erie County Advisory Commission on Reapportionment in 2021. City and State named Joe to its Upstate Power 100 list in 2024, and in 2025, Joe was named as one of New York State’s Law Power 100 by City and State.
Joe is a frequent commentator and author on New York State and national politics, and election law.
US Representative, 21st District of New York
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik proudly represents New York’s 21st District in her fifth term and serves as the House Republican Conference Chair and most senior Republican in New York.
At the time of her first election in 2014, Elise was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in United States history. She continued this historic rise and she is currently the youngest woman ever to serve in top elected House leadership. Elise is known for her tireless work ethic, policy leadership, media savvy, genuine grassroots connection with constituents, and laser focus on delivering real results to Upstate New York and North Country. Elise has consistently won historic re-election victories, often by the largest margin of any Republican in the Northeast, and consistently earning the most votes in history for any congressional candidate in the North Country.
Elise is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Elise has been rated as one of the most effective and bipartisan Members of Congress. She is a well-respected national policy leader on issues ranging from economic policy impacting small businesses and manufacturers to national security, intelligence reform and oversight, rural broadband, rural healthcare, constitutional protections, conservation, life, K-12 & higher education, cyber security, artificial intelligence, law enforcement, battlefield preservation, northern border issues, border security, & government accountability and transparency.
Elise was born and raised in Upstate New York. Prior to serving in Congress, she worked at her family’s small business. Growing up in a small business family, Elise learned, lived, and understands the values of hard work, perseverance, determination, and grit. As the first member of her immediate family to have the opportunity to earn a college degree, Elise graduated with Honors from Harvard. From 2006 to 2009, Elise served in the West Wing of the White House on President George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy Council Staff and the Chief of Staff’s office where she assisted in overseeing the policy development process on all economic and domestic policy issues.
It is the highest and most humbling honor of Elise’s life to represent Upstate New York and the North Country in Congress. She is proud to work tirelessly every day to bring a new generation of leadership to Washington on behalf of her district’s hardworking families, small businesses, farmers, students, seniors, service members, military families, law enforcement officers, and veterans. She is unapologetic about fighting every day to give her constituents a seat at the absolute highest levels of government.
Elise lives in Schuylerville with her husband Matt and their young son Sam. They are proud to call Upstate New York – the cradle of the American Revolution – home.
Topics
Delaying a Special Election in New York State
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is likely to win Senate approval to be the United...
New York High Court Orders New Maps Before Election
Joseph Thomas Burns
On December 12, 2023, the New York State Court of Appeals (New York’s highest court)...
May 2024 DC Lunch with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik
Washington, DCTopics
Claudine Gay’s ‘My Truths’ v. the Declaration’s ‘Self-Evident Truths’
Shortly after her resignation as Harvard’s president, in an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Claudine Gay said:...
Topics
On Campus Speech, We Need a Return to First Principles
This post originally appeared at the Dispatch. Being a university president amid the Israel-Hamas war...
Topics
Religious Liberty Update on Congress and the Biden Administration
Congress 1. The Fairness For All Act (FFAA) is likely dead after House Republican Chair...