Oct 10
2024
Ryan leads the mayoral money race

State Sen. Sean Ryan is seeking reelection this fall, but he’s certainly raising and spending money like a guy who’s running for mayor of Buffalo next year.
Ryan raised $110,000 over the last three months, according to his campaign committee’s most recent filing with the state elections board. Campaign finance disclosures for candidates on the ballot in November were due last Friday. The reports cover the period from July 11 to Sept. 30.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced two weeks ago he’d accepted a new job as president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Brown indicated he’d step down sometime this month, leaving Common Council President Chris Scanlon acting mayor for the next 14 months and precipitating the first open race for Buffalo mayor in 20 years.
Sen. Sean Ryan at a campaign event. Photo courtesy WKBW.
Ryan, a Democrat, represents the 61st Senate District, which encompasses Buffalo’s north and west sides, the city’s West Side, the City of Tonawanda, and the towns of Amherst, Grand Island and Tonawanda.
Three-quarters of Ryan’s recent donations came in chunks of $1,000 or more, mostly from labor unions, residents of the city’s West Side and a smattering of real estate developers, construction companies and other business interests. His biggest single donation since July was $5,000 from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
His opponent, Republican Christine Czarnik, raised just under $6,600 in the same period, spent a little under $10,000, and entered the last month of her campaign with $4,500 in the bank.
Ryan spent $55,602 over the last three months and entered October with $330,385 on hand. His biggest expenses were $32,500 to a New York City firm for a poll and $10,000 to a Washington, D.C., consultant that specializes in fundraising. The rest of his spending consisted largely of donations to other candidates and community groups.
At last count, the 61st Senate District had 93,289 registered Democrats and 50,094 registered Republicans — a disparity balanced by 47,674 registered voters who belong to no political party.
Between the money, the district’s political demographics and the advantages of incumbency, Ryan’s reelection is virtually a lock, barring last-minute surprises. That means much of the money he’s raised — and perhaps even the polling and consulting — will serve his mayoral campaign, should he choose to run.
Nobody, including Ryan, has formally declared a candidacy for Buffalo mayor next year. But he’s not the only one with his eyes on the job.
Scanlon, the Council president, will take the reins when Brown tenders his resignation sometime in the next few weeks, and he’s likely to run for a full four-year term next year.
Scanlon reported $126,288 in his campaign account as of July, but he’s been raising money all summer, too. Because Scanlon’s not on the ballot in November, we won’t know how much, or who’s supporting him, until the next mandatory filing date for all campaign committees in January.
Over a dozen years in office, Scanlon has raised a little over $402,000.
More than a quarter of that money — about $103,000 — is unitemized or attributed to “various,” usually an indication it came as donations of $99 or less at fundraising events. Like Ryan, he’s had strong support from unions — about $21,000, more than half of that from the city’s police and fire unions. Individual police officers and firefighters are regular donors, too.
University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt has said he’s considering entering the race for mayor. He’s raised a little less than $50,000 over seven years in office. His campaign committee had $5,230 in the bank as of July.
Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope, who’s also said she’s exploring a mayoral run, had $6,213 in the bank as of July. Masten District Councilwoman Zeneta Everhart, another possible candidate, had $4,561 on hand. Both are in the first year of their first four-year terms.
Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, who said in a radio interview last month that he might take another shot at the mayor’s office, had $14,827 in the bank as of July. Kearns challenged Brown in the 2009 Democratic primary, when he represented the South District on the Common Council.
Garnell Whitfield, a former Buffalo fire commissioner, is a possible candidate for mayor. He’s indicated he’ll make an announcement sometime after next month’s general election. He hasn’t yet registered a campaign committee.
Terrance Heard, an at-large member of the Buffalo Board of Education, told Investigative Post he’s “exploring” the mayor’s race, too. Heard is running for another five-year term on the school board this fall. His first campaign finance disclosure for that race was due this past Monday, Oct. 8. He had not filed anything as of Oct. 9, according to district spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.