Jun 17
2025
Podcast: Profiling Buffalo mayoral candidates
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There’s just one week left until the Democratic primary fro Buffalo mayor, the marquee race this election season.
In the last month, Investigative Post’s government and politics reporter, Geoff Kelly, profiled four of the five candidates on the ballot: state Sen. Sean Ryan, University District Council Member Rasheed Wyatt, former Assembly staffer Anthony Tyson-Thompson and former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.
In January Kelly wrote a three-part profile of the fifth candidate, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon.
Editor Jim Heaney last week sat down to ask Kelly his impressions of the candidates and the contest.
The candidates and their issues
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Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon: Profile and stance on the issues.
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State Sen. Sean Ryan: Profile and stance on the issues.
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University District Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt: Profile and stance on the issues.
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Anthony Tyson-Thompson: Profile and stance in the issues.
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Former Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield: Profile and stance on the issues.
Scanlon’s pitch, Kelly said, is basically that he’s hit the ground running as acting mayor, he’s young and energetic, and he wants a chance to show voters he’ll be different than his political ally and predecessor, Byron Brown. Also, he says Ryan’s 2021 endorsement of the Democratic nominee for mayor, India Walton, indicates Ryan is “too extreme for Buffalo.”
Ryan — who has the Democratic Party endorsement — argues city government has suffered from bad leadership for 20 years, and that leadership included the acting mayor. If voters want someone new, who also has a lots of experience in politics and government, he says, then he’s that guy. Also, he says Scanlon’s support from Republican developers like Nick Sinatra and the Paladino family, among other right-wingers, should give Democrats pause.
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Wyatt, the University District lawmaker, was a critic of the Brown administration, and he’s kept up that critique during Scanlon’s eight months in office. He’s been kind of a lone wolf on the Council since his ally Darius Pridgen steeped down from the Council presidency, and he presents that as a virtue, according to Kelly. Wyatt says it shows he’s independent, that he’s speaking up for the people’s interests.
Kelly said Tyson-Thompson, a former aide to Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, comes across as young and smart, Kelly said. He has master’s degrees from Harvard and Columbia and a diverse resume, but not a lot of experience in government. With little name recognition and less money to change that, he’s not likely to win — but look for him to come back and run for elected office again.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroomWhitfield isn’t really selling any one policy position or solution to city problems, Kelly said. Instead he’s asking voters to consider his reputation for honesty and integrity. He says he’s not beholden to any political or financial interests, while the frontrunners millions in campaign cash and endorsements indicate they’re bought and paid for. He says he’s in the best positions to fix City Hall because he knows its intimate workings, having spent 20 of his 34 years in the fire department in administration, including seven years as commissioner.
Early voting in the race began Saturday and continues through Sunday, June 22. Primary election day is Tuesday, June 24.
