In this Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, file photo, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown speaks to the media after filling out his ballot in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex, File)
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown declared victory Tuesday night in his write-in campaign for a fifth term. Brown has previously lost the Democrat primary earlier this year to Democrat Socialist India Walton.
The mayoral election concluded with Democrat socialist India Walton receiving 41.2% of the vote and “Write-in” at 58.8%. Buffalo’s Erie County reportedly will not be able to officially tally the write-in votes until November 17, but it is expected that support for Brown accounts for the vast majority of those tabulations.
Brown’s write-in campaign began after he refused to debate with Walton and then lost to her in a Buffalo mayoral primary election. The city mayor quickly sprung to action, eventually launching a mass write-in campaign that appears to have given him the win. His opponent had called for redirecting $7.5 million from the Buffalo Police Department’s budget, a radical agenda that started off a series of attacks by Brown about Walton’s desire to “defund the police.” Walton rejected the terminology despite her previous promises to take away funds from city police.
“The stakes are dire and extreme if she was to get elected,” Brown said in an interview with CNN before early voting began. “She would take our city horribly back. She would compromise our public safety. She would raise our taxes. She would attack other elected officials up and down the ballot. It would be a nightmare for every person in our community.”
Walton claims that Brown lost credibility with voters and that his entire campaign was fueled by attacks on her rather than focusing on what he will do to better the city.
“Every ad that he comes out with is an attack on me and making people feel afraid of me or attempting to do so,” Walton said. “An honorable campaign would be him sharing the plans that he has for the future of Buffalo. An honorable plan would be him owning up to the fact that he disrespected Buffalo voters by not running a primary contest.”
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