Mayor Robert Duffy reaches out to upstate minority voters

BUFFALO — Stomping shook the floor of the century-old church. The cramped congregation was on its feet, hands raised, dancing.

"Jesus!" the female soloist sang out, in a call-and-response chorus that grew more fervent with each repetition. "Jesus!" the faithful shouted back.

Stepping from the choir, she leaned over the pulpit, pointed and smiled. In the front row, lifted from his pew like the others, stood Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

The spirited True Bethel Baptist service was the third on Duffy's schedule this past Sunday. He will return to the Queen City this Sunday for more praising, more preaching, more politicking.