Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Members of the Erie County Democratic Committee are calling out Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon for allegedly receiving significant donations from Republican interests who, they believe, are trying to buy the mayoral election this November in the City of Buffalo.
Meanwhile, Mayor Scanlon is denying those claims by Erie County Democrats.
State Assemblyman Jon Rivera says the Erie County Democratic Committee has seen financial filings of more than $100,000 in a single filing generated by Republican donors for Scanlon. He claims tens of thousands of dollars from Carl Paladino and his relatives have come the Acting Mayor's way, while also pointing to the fact that Scanlon's campaign headquarters is in a Paladino building at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Allen Street.
"We live in a day and age where the difference between Republicans and Democrats are clear more now than ever, and it's on us as leaders in this party to inform Democrats across the city the truth about what's going on, and the truth is that the Republican institution is attempting to buy this election," claimed Rivera during a press briefing on Monday. "That powerful interests like Carl Paladino and other Republicans with deep pockets are trying to make it seem as though Chris Scanlon is a Democrat, trying to make it seem as though he believes in Democratic values. You see it from the mail that he sends to the messaging that he uses. But I know the truth, and the rest of the people behind me know the truth."
Rivera adds that Erie County Democrats will not allow Paladino to infiltrate Buffalo City Hall again with his homophobia and racism dating back to his days on the Buffalo School Board.
"There is a real Democrat running for office, and his name is Sean Ryan," Rivera said boldly. "Carl Paladino is not going to have a space in City Hall any longer. That the days that we pay homage to people that don't have this community's interest at heart are over, and that the radical right has no place in Buffalo."
Former Erie County Legislator, now vice chair of the Erie County Democratic Committee, Howard Johnson believes it's imperative to keep Republican interests out of democratic policies.
"If you're going to be a true Democrat, you have to be a true Democrat. You have to show yourself tried and true to do what's right for the Democratic party," said Johnson on Monday. "And for me, I'm hoping that he, the Acting Mayor, denounces Paladino. So far he hasn't. That was one of the requests that I had, and so far, he hasn't. Until then, the only true candidate we have is Sean Ryan."
Just last week, Acting Mayor Scanlon submitted an Independent nominating petition to continue his run for the November election for Buffalo Mayor. That's something Rivera says Scanlon lied about when he said he would not pursue the general election if he didn't get the Democratic endorsement.
"We're seeing, an influx of Republican support and Republican money and messaging against Democrats. That's not what increases voter turnout, that's not what inspires Democrats. What inspires Democrats is when we put our policies forward and when we call things out as they are," Rivera said. "There is criticism about Democrats across this country that we don't say what's the truth, that we don't use confrontational language, that we're not hard on things. But let me tell you, this is a new era of Democratic politics, because the truth of it is we believe that we have the right candidate to do the job, and we are going to unapologetically support him."
As for Mayor Scanlon, he strongly denied the claims laid against him by the Erie County Democratic Committee, starting with the alleged donations from Carl Paladino for his campaign as mayor.
"My campaign has not accepted one single donation from Carl Paladino, and I've been very clear in the past about how I felt about some of the things Mr. Paladino has done and said. I've been very public about that. He has not been part of my campaign and isn't part of my campaign, and this is something that the Democratic Committee and its hand-picked candidate for mayor are doing. They're throwing this against the wall in order to scare voters, and it's really silly that they keep bringing it up," said Mayor Scanlon on Monday.
While Scanlon acknowledges he has a close relationship with William Paladino, son of Carl, he reiterates that Carl Paladino has not donated to his mayoral campaign or any other campaign of his in quite a long time because of his past statements and actions.
"This is a scare tactic by Sen. Sean Ryan, in an effort to scare people in this campaign. He thinks this scares people, but that's what you do when you're desperate in campaigns, you start throwing things against the wall. Anything you can to try and make things stick," Scanlon said.
Scanlon also called the Democratic Committee's claims "comical " and "hypocritical", adding the goal posts were constantly moved for Ryan, who was also running on another line.
As for his filing for the Independent line for the general election, Scanlon says this is what some candidates are forced to do sometimes, because of the Erie County Democratic Committee.
"You've got a chairman [Jeremy Zellner] who's got an inherent conflict as Elections Commissioner, where they orchestrate their endorsement processes for their hand-picked candidates. This is what you're forced to do. But we turned in 10,000 signatures from across Buffalo, from people that are almost exclusively Democrats. And I would tell you that I was born and raised a Democrat, and I am more of a Democrat than the vast majority of them in the way they operate. I can tell you that." he said.
Scanlon adds he has never had any conversations with either the Erie County Republican Committee or the Erie County Conservative Committee regarding any sort of endorsement, and does not plan to before the Nov. 4 election.