The three candidates in the race for Buffalo mayor took to the debate stage Thursday, appearing at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, which has held annual political debates for 41 years.
After introductions and opening statements, the candidates took questions from a panel of AP Government students, with topics ranging from food insecurity to Buffalo’s budget.
Democratic nominee, Sen. Sean Ryan, framed himself as the steady hand with the right contacts to lead the Queen City, touting his 20-year career as a lawyer before his time in elected office. Ryan served in the state Assembly for a decade before being elected to represent the state's 61st Senate District in 2021.
"I have the public sector, the private sector, the governmental experience to lead the city of Buffalo," Ryan said. "But I also have the relationships necessary with Erie County, with the state of New York, with the governor, to help move Buffalo forward."
But it’s precisely those political relationships the other two candidates worked to exploit during the debate.
Republican-endorsed James Gardner argued that Ryan is beholden to his political allies and blamed the city's fiscal problems, bumpy roads and number of vacant lots on decades of Democratic Party-rule in the city.
"Who is going to lead us out of this mess? Is it going to be the hand-picked candidate of the Democratic Party machine that has ruled this city for 60 years?," he asked. "The definition of insanity, ladies and gentlemen, is doing the same thing year after year, election after election and expecting a different result."
Independent candidate Michael Gainer, running on his Restore Buffalo line, positioned himself as the antidote to partisan politics in the race.
"We need to bring more power back to neighborhoods. We need to reject a two party system that closes doors on our communities, that closes doors to decision making and innovation, and we need to invite more people to the table to be part of solutions that empower residents, that educate and mentor young people, that re-green our city," Gainer said.
The debates at St. Joe's have been moderated by Social Studies teacher, Ted Lina, since 1984, and are now considered a hallmark of the local political calendar in the weeks before Election Day.
Lina told BTPM NPR he started the endeavor after he ran for office himself in 1981 and lost, realizing he had very little knowledge of how to run a political campaign despite studying Political Science at college.
"I started to talk about this in my classes and a colleague of mine said, 'Ted, why don't you invite some people here to debate?' So I did that in October of '84 and it was, I believe, George Arthur on the Buffalo Common Council and a campaign for mayor of Buffalo. And then the next year, I decided to do it, and then the next, and it sort of snowballed," he explained.
Early voting begins Saturday and the general election is on Nov. 4.
