BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - If Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown can get on the ballot in November, it would substantially affect his ability to win re-election over democratic candidate India Walton, according to political strategist Carl Calabrese.
"It greatly increases the odds of a Byron Brown victory," Calabrese said. "I think it could be a game-changer if he is successful in getting a line on the ballot and not having to rely on a write-in vote."
The Brown campaign began circulating a petition to try and get his name on an independent line in the ballot, as was first reported by The Buffalo News. The Brown campaign filed the petition with the Erie County Board of Elections on Tuesday afternoon and a hearing on his campaign's initiative could be held as early as next Monday, though no official date has been scheduled.
Brown lost in the June primary to Walton in an election that made national headlines. Walton is a self-described democratic socialist while Brown is a four-term incumbent. Mayor Brown's only avenue currently to win in November is using a write-in campaign.
The Brown campaign declined to comment about their petition efforts.
It's unclear exactly what law allows Brown to get on the ballot.
"The statutory timeline that's spelled out within the election law has passed," Republican Erie County Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr said. "I'm not certain as to what legal argument is going to be advanced by the Brown campaign for filing petitions at this time, but we would certainly listen to the arguments they have and make a ruling after our evaluation of their arguments."
"When his legal team made the announcement, they did not cite any precedent or case law that would give you reason to think there were cases in the past with similar facts they could draw on say we've got a reasonable chance of success here," Calabrese said. "There was no citation of case law or precedent at all."
Mohr and Democratic Elections Commissioner Jeremy Zellner will rule on the validity of the petition. It only takes one of the two commissioners to rule the petition to be valid but it would take both to rule it invalid. If the petition is ruled invalid, the Brown campaign has three days to appeal the decision by the commissioners.
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Zellner was unavailable to comment. He is also the Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee. Mohr said Zellner's experience at the board of elections has shown he has followed election law and dictates, regardless of his affiliation with the local democratic party.
When asked about legal precedents which would allow Brown to get on the ballot on an independent line at this point, Mohr acknowledged a time when the Erie County Legislature failed to re-apportion itself one year. He said a federal judge a decade ago allowed the county to provide a time period for an independent nominating petition.
"I don't make much of it," Walton said Tuesday when asked about the Brown campaign's effort to get on the ballot. "We had a primary election. The voters spoke. He chose not to run a campaign and this is what we have."
When asked how his name appearing on the ballot would change her campaign, she said she is keeping her "foot on the gas all the way, anyway".
The Brown campaign is using the slogan "Write Down Byron Brown" in an effort to drum up support. Calabrese said the slogan would have to change if he appears on the ballot, but said that's the least of the mayor's worries.