Race To Be the Next Mayor of Buffalo Is Heating Up

Just days after acting mayor Chris Scanlon was officially sworn in to take the helm of Buffalo’s City Hall to serve the remainder of Byron Brown’s final term, he learned he’s not the only one who might have interest in winning the office next year.  

Saturday morning, as was widely expected, State Senator Sean Ryan tossed his hat into the ring.  

In a post on socia media, Ryan said he’s running “because Buffalo deserves better.” He talks about his upbringing as the son of a teacher and firefighter and his early roles in politics.  

“We all work hard for our city and we deserve a city government that works hard for us,” he continues. “After 20 years of neglect, you can see the cracks starting to show. We can’t seem to get our side streets plowed or our potholes filled. Our children are poisoned by lead. Senior services are hanging on by a thread. Nearly a decade without fluoride in the water and they never told us.” 

He adds how other municipalities in the area will have open pools while Buffalo’s are closed and how it’s difficult to pay city bills online. “We’re failing at the basics,” he says. “It’s demoralizing for everybody working towards a better Buffalo. Let’s imagine a new Buffalo, where we fix the basics but don’t shy away from taking on the big, tough problems.”  

Many people expected Ryan to run for mayor, especially after the Sean Ryan Victory Fund was registered with the New York State Board of Elections in July, around the time it became apparent Brown would be leaving or, at the very least, probably not running for another term.  

While Scanlon has not officially said whether he’ll run for his own term as mayor next year, he did have 1,000 people with him after taking the oath of office earlier this month. He also took issue with some of the claims in Ryan’s speech, first given online and later at an official campaign kick-off event at Ashbury Hall.  

Scanlon said Ryan’s description of the city’s budgeting process is incorrect and show’s Ryan’s “lack of familiarity with the city of Buffalo’s budget and the city of Buffalo’s operations,” Scanlon said. 

Others are likely to enter the race before the Democratic party primary in the spring, including former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, who said he was preparing to run earlier this fall, and Ryan Caughill, a first-time candidate, who has suggested he will run but as an independent. It also remains to be seen whether India Walton, winner of the mayoral primary in 2021, will run again.