Depending on the neighborhood, the number of early voters in the Buffalo mayoral primary was either fairly steady, or very quiet.
The steady flow of early voters at the North Buffalo Community Center on Sanders Road served as a bellwether for the June 24 Democratic mayoral primary. Some came because of the hype surrounding the race; yet, others came just to beat the projected primary day crowds.
Others came because of the importance of the race, where for the first time in a generation there is a wide field vying for the Democratic Party line.
That’s the sentiment from North Buffalo resident Rick Cappolozzo.
“Given that it's not going to be the same old same old incumbent which is how it's always been the last number of years is a fresh start,” Cappolozzo said.
Fellow North Buffalo resident Tom Giambrone agrees.
“I think it's important to the history and the future of the city,” Giambrone said.
Compared to the 2021 Democratic Party mayoral primary where India Walton upset the incumbent, Byron Brown, voting is far more active after just two days of early voting.
Jeremy Zellner, Erie County Democratic Party chairman, says early voting is up 185% from four years ago.
“I think that people have taken a liking to early voting one way or another,” Zellner said. “Whatever these numbers are, I know they're higher than last time, and I think it's just made it easier for people to vote.”
The city of Buffalo has 98,616 registered Democrats, according to the Erie County Board of Elections.
Zellner estimates that at least 30 percent of the city’s registered Democrats will vote in the mayoral primary.
At the North Buffalo Community Center, 16 people voted in the first hour of Monday’s early voting - that began at noon.
Meanwhile at the St. Stanislaus Social Center in the Broadway-Filllmore district had just one early voter by 1:45 p.m.
But, at the Tosh Collins Community Center in South Buffalo, 30 had voted by 2:30 p.m.
Among those voting at Tosh Collins was Lucy Rados.
“I think it's very important to have a change and more importantly positive change for the city,” Rados said.
Early voting continues through June 22. Primary day is June 24.
