Despite the June 24 primary still being weeks away, the general election field for Buffalo mayor is already taking shape. Erie County Board of Elections filings confirm Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, former Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield and Michael Gainer have all turned in enough petitions to create independent ballot lines in the November general election.
All three of those candidates sought the Erie County Democratic Committee’s endorsement, which ended up going to State Senator Sean Ryan in February. Scanlon, Whitfield, Councilman Rasheed Wyatt and former state legislature aide Anthony Tyson-Thompson have qualified for June’s Democratic mayoral primary ballot.
Gainer submitted petitions to appear in that primary, but following a signature challenge, a state supreme court judge ruled enough of them invalid. Democratic candidates for Buffalo mayor need at least 2,000 valid signatures from party member voters to gain primary ballot access.
While Scanlon and Whitfield are still vying for the Democratic line, the move to create independent lines could cement their general election future. Government relations consultant and former New York State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt calls it a political safeguard.
"To a certain degree, it's an insurance policy," said Hoyt, a Democrat. "Sean Ryan, the endorsed Democrat, also has the Working Families Party line, so he's guaranteed a spot on the ballot in November. Obviously, whoever wins the Democratic primary will have the Democratic party line in November, but the other candidates, you know, not certain as to whether or not they're going to win the primary.”
That’s something former Mayor Byron Brown attempted to do after his upset loss to India Walton in the 2021 Buffalo Democratic primary, but the BOE and later courts ruled he filed those independent nominating petitions far too late. Brown later won his fifth term on a write-in campaign.
“I think the candidates are thinking anything is possible, so why not?," said Hoyt. "Why not be in the game? And you know, in terms of Mr. Scanlon's perspective, the thought that the more times your name is on the ballot, the better."
May 27 was the final day candidates could submit signatures to create alternative party lines. The BOE still needs to certify those petitions, and they can be challenged.
The Republican Party’s primary for Buffalo mayor was canceled, as there is only one qualified candidate, James Gardner. He is a local lawyer who ran for Erie County District Attorney in 2024, losing to Democrat Michael Keane.
