Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Officially, State Sen. Sean Ryan won Buffalo's Mayoral Election on Tuesday night.
In reality, Ryan all-but-secured his long coveted mayoral bid when he won the five-candidate Democratic primary election back on June. 24.
Still, after garnering nearly 72% of the 41,653 votes cast in the Nov. 4 general election, Ryan was beyond happy.
"I'm three feet off the ground now," a jubilant Ryan said.
But now comes the hard part.
Serving as the 64th Mayor in Buffalo's history and coming in on Jan. 1 against the backdrop of the city facing a severe fiscal crisis and a host of other issues including crime, an economically struggling downtown, deep needs on Buffalo's East Side and cutbacks in federal dollars.
And that's on top of fixing potholes and prepping for winter storms.
"If I didn't like challenges, I would have stayed in the [State] Senate," Ryan said.
The good news is Ryan has had, in effect, six months, not six weeks to prepare for taking over the mayor's office on the second floor of Buffalo City Hall.
Ryan says he will be meeting with state leaders in Albany to help address, at least on the short-term, some of Buffalo's fiscal problems.
Helping him will be a transition team that Ryan hopes to announce later this week.
"I'm ready to go," Ryan said.
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