Reuters / Alessandro Bianch
Steve Bannon waded into the Midterm campaign Wednesday night by holding an upstate New York rally to support his local Republican candidates—none of whom bothered to show up. In a stark display of how far his influence has diminished since he left his role as Donald Trump’s chief strategist just over a year ago, Bannon boasted of his importance in the 2016 election to a small crowd of around 200 in Buffalo. Worse still, he drew a crowd of just 38 to an event in Staten Island on Monday. Michael Caputo—organizer of Buffalo event—said he invited all Republicans running for office in the western New York area but had yet to receive a single reply. Bannon had reportedly been slated to appear with David DiPietro, running for re-election to the New York state assembly, but he pulled out.