BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Democratic Mayoral Candidate India Walton, and third-party candidate Ben Carlisle made their final pitch to voters Wednesday in the annual debate hosted by St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute.
LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE DEBATE
The hour-long debate saw the candidates debate issues like Walton's embrace of democratic socialism and her impact on the Democratic Party locally and statewide, Brown's tenure as mayor which includes allegations of corruption and complacency, plus other issues like gentrification, Buffalo Public Schools, crime, housing, and more.
Brown lost in the June primary to Walton, a political newcomer, but is seeking an unprecedented fifth term as mayor using a write-in campaign. Carlisle, meanwhile, began actively campaigning for mayor after the primary and seeks to give voters a third option beyond the status quo or a candidate who is a self-described democratic socialist.
"This is a time where experience matters," Brown said. "All of the students in this room, this is about your future. This is about what kind of community you want to live in and what kind of opportunities you want to have. I know how to help grow this economy. I know how to partner with the development community. I know how to bring jobs to the City of Buffalo. I've done it before. I can and will do it again."
Walton, meanwhile, highlighted what she called her bold vision of the future of the city.
"Time after time after time again, the barrier to the success of the policy proposals was the second floor of City Hall," Walton said. "Now, we have an opportunity to have a person who is open, honest, transparent, listened to, and value the opinion and ideas of others."
HEAR THE CANDIDATES SPEAK TO REPORTERS AFTER THE DEBATE
The debate was moderated by Ted Lina and four seniors at St. Joe's: Edward Brown, Patrick Killian, Patrick Hennegan, and Noah Dening.
"I think the final product shows the effort we put in," Killian said. "We tried to make sure the questions aren't just 'Here's a question for someone'. We wanted to make sure that every term that we're asking them is defined before we actually say the question."
