Representative Chester Charles Gorski

Chester Charles Gorski (June 22, 1906 – April 25, 1975) was an American politician from Buffalo, New York, who rose from local public service to a seat in the United States House of Representatives and became a longtime leader of the Buffalo Common Council. A Democrat representing New York, he served one term in Congress from 1949 to 1951, participating in the legislative process during a significant period in American history and representing the interests of his Buffalo-area constituents.

Gorski was born on June 22, 1906, in Buffalo, New York, to a Polish immigrant family, part of the city’s growing Eastern European community in the early twentieth century. He attended Saints Peter and Paul Parochial School and later Technical High School in Buffalo, receiving the practical education that would shape his early working life. After graduating from high school, he worked as a laborer and assistant foreman in Buffalo’s Streets Department, gaining firsthand experience with municipal operations and public works. In addition to his public employment, he operated a liquor store, combining small business ownership with his growing interest in civic affairs.

Becoming active in politics as a Democrat, Gorski entered public office at the county level. He served as a member of the Erie County Board of Supervisors from 1941 to 1945, and beginning in 1942 he held the position of minority leader on the board, reflecting his rising influence within the local Democratic Party. Building on this experience, he was elected to the Buffalo Common Council, serving from 1946 to 1948. During these years he became a recognized figure in Buffalo’s political life and a representative voice for its working-class and ethnic neighborhoods. His growing prominence in party affairs was further demonstrated by his selection as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1968.

In the 1948 elections, Gorski was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from New York. He served one term in the Eighty-first Congress, from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1951. His tenure in Congress coincided with the early Cold War period and the domestic adjustments following World War II, and he contributed to the legislative process during this significant era in American history. After serving his term, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1950, returning to his home city to continue his career in public service.

Following his departure from Congress, Gorski held a series of federal, state, and municipal positions that underscored his expertise in urban and industrial affairs. From 1951 to 1952 he was employed by the United States Department of Commerce as an industrial analyst, a role that drew on his knowledge of industry and regional economic conditions. He returned to the Buffalo Common Council from 1954 to 1956, reaffirming his central place in the city’s governance. From 1956 to 1959 he served as a member of the New York State Building Code Commission, participating in the development and oversight of standards affecting construction and public safety throughout the state.

In 1960, Gorski again returned to the Buffalo Common Council, this time as its president, a position he would hold for an extended period. As longtime president of the Buffalo Common Council, he played a key role in shaping municipal policy during years of demographic change, urban renewal, and economic transition in Buffalo. He continued in this leadership role until 1974, when he resigned because of ill health, concluding more than three decades of intermittent but sustained public service at multiple levels of government.

Gorski’s public life was complemented by a family deeply involved in public service. He was married to Helen T. Pieprzny, and they were the parents of two sons who would themselves become prominent in New York public life: Dennis Gorski, who served as Erie County Executive, and Jerome Gorski, who became a justice of the New York State Supreme Court. Chester Charles Gorski died in Buffalo on April 25, 1975. He was buried at Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Cemetery in Cheektowaga, New York, leaving a legacy of service that extended from local government to the national legislature and through the continued public careers of his children.