BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York State Senator Sean Ryan didn't mince words about Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's campaign considering using write-in votes to win the general election in the fall.
"You're not going to run a campaign in the primary but you're going to wake up and run a write-in campaign?" Ryan said Friday. "The game's over. Move on."
India Walton, a self-described democratic socialist, unofficially defeated the four-term mayor in Tuesday's primary, meaning Brown will not be on the ballot in November. The only way Brown can garner votes is by having Buffalo residents write his name in at the bottom of the ballot. Most political experts believe it is a long-shot that Brown will succeed in the endeavor.
Ryan called Walton's upset victory "fantastic" and a "tremendous change" in the city, adding he, like many, never saw it coming.
The senator wants Mayor Brown to fill out the remainder of his term, but slow down on some of the proposals he has, such as demolition permits, subsidies for developers, and more.
"What we don't want is a rush on city hall to give away the store before January 1," Ryan said. "We'd like the mayor to work on a logical and a rational transition."
Ryan, a fellow democrat whose district includes parts of the city, said he has worked with Walton in the past.
Related
"(Walton has) a real people's first agenda," Ryan said. "That's what has been missing in the City of Buffalo. We've spent more time and hours fighting demolition of houses, subsidies for rich developers, but no talk about how to stop lead poisoning. You have kids all over the City of Buffalo being lead poisoned. For 16 years, you heard virtually boo out of that from that administration. Instead, they wanted to talk about building new buildings. It's fine, but it shouldn't be done on taxpayers dime and it shouldn't be done while ignoring Buffalo kids are getting lead poisoned higher than anywhere in New York State."
Related
Assemblyman Bill Conrad, a fellow democrat whose district includes Black Rock and Riverside, said he has never met Walton before but congratulated her on her apparent victory.
"It's an interesting thing about politics for the mayor that you don't want to take anything for granted," Conrad said. "You have to pursue these things until the end. I think anybody can tell you it wasn't the campaign anyone was hoping for if they wanted to pull out a win. It was a very low turnout."