By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – An emotional crowd gathered at the Buffalo Irish Center Tuesday night to support defeated mayoral candidate Michael Kearns.
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When Kearns stepped to the stage the crowd roared as if he were about to deliver a victory speech. An optimistic Kearns thought he would be. In fact, he told supporters he had no concession speech written. According to campaign aides, Kearns spoke largely from the heart. And he sounded anything but defeated.
During a short but surprisingly competitive campaign, Kearns drew a circle of powerful support from fellow politicians and diverse communities, including Latinos as well as the Irish South Buffalo stronghold. His campaign manager was Chito Olivencia. The life-long political organizer came back from Puerto Rico to resurrect the flagging campaign. Olivencia says Kearns won his respect and support because he truly cares about people.
But Kearns says he will continue to care for and fight for city residents. Kearns says he will hold Brown accountable to the taxpayers and wants to work with him to make things better. And Kearns promised supporters he'd be back to run for political office again. Depending on how he thinks Brown does, Kearns says he may be back in four years for another go at mayor.