Jun 19
2025
Buffalo’s $2 million mayoral primary
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Next Tuesday’s Democratic primary election for Buffalo mayor is already a $2 million affair, as of the most recent campaign finance disclosures, with a weekend of TV and radio spots, phone banks, social media ads and mailers still to come.
That figure doesn’t count independent expenditures — money spent by political committees unaffiliated with, but supporting, a one candidate or another. The first such independent expenditure took place this week in support of Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, paid for by an Albany-based group whose backers are for now a mystery.
On its own account, Scanlon’s campaign committee has spent $950,879 since last July. State Sen. Sean Ryan has spent $983,809 in that period.
Garnell Whitfield, the former fire commissioner, has spent $65,797. University District Council Member Rasheed Wyatt has spent $34,355, most of that in the last couple weeks.
Anthony Tyson-Thompson, a former aide to Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, reports no expenditures. As of Tuesday afternoon, the state board of elections website had no disclosure report from his campaign covering the period between May 19 and June 9. That report was due last Friday.
Scanlon in those three weeks spent nearly $480,000, including $285,000 for TV ads, $100,000 on mailers and flyers, $43,000 on online advertising, and $30,000 for a poll.
Ryan in that period has spent just over $400,000, including $288,000 for TV ads, $75,000 on mailers and flyers, and $22,000 on wages for campaign workers.
As of a week ago, Scanlon’s campaign committee had $340,338 left in the bank, while Ryan’s had $74,205.
That difference tells a story. Ryan is spending every dime to win next week’s Democratic primary. If the senator does not prevail, he’s unlikely to continue campaigning into the fall, even though his name will appear on the Working Families Party line in the November general election.
Scanlon, on the other hand, appears to be husbanding his campaign cash, in case he doesn’t win the Democratic primary. The acting mayor will be on the November ballot on the Good Neighbors Party line, which he created this spring, regardless of Tuesday’s outcome.
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Whitfield, too, hopes to appear on the November ballot no matter how he fares next week. He submitted to the county elections board a petition creating the New Buffalo party. Scanlon’s campaign has challenged the petition’s validity.
Michael Gainer, founder of Buffalo ReUse and ReUse Action, was booted from the Democratic primary, courtesy of a challenge to his petitions from Ryan’s campaign. But he’ll be on the ballot in November on the Restore Buffalo party line.
Finally, attorney James Gardner — who ran for Erie County District Attorney last year — has the Republican Party line. At least for now.
Gardner hasn’t registered a campaign committee for the mayor’s race. The Erie County and City of Buffalo GOP chairs hosted a fundraiser Tuesday night at the Bison City Rod & Gun Club on Ohio Street. Gardner was a “featured guest.” Checks were payable to the City of Buffalo Republican Committee, not to the candidate.
It may come to pass that the party removes Gardner from the ballot by nominating him for judgeship in some deep-blue district downstate where he stands no chance of winning. That would allow the GOP to replace him as candidate for mayor on the November ballot.
Outside money for Scanlon
The first independent expenditure in the mayor’s race dropped Tuesday afternoon. A group called Common Sense for the City of Buffalo sent at least two text messages Tuesday afternoon, one attacking Ryan and the other encouraging voters to choose Scanlon.
The group sent another text message attacking Ryan Wednesday afternoon.
One of Tuesday’s messages said Ryan “took tens of thousands from NYC donors — then voted to seal criminal records, send billions to NYC & block lower gas bills.” The second message said “Common Sense for the City of Buffalo is proud to join Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes in voting for Chris Scanlon for Mayor.” The Assembly Majority Leader recently declared her support for Scanlon.
Wednesday’s message said “Ryan and his cronies have long controlled Albany and County Hall,” and now were coming for Buffalo, propelled by “a flood of New York City money.”
Common Sense for the City of Buffalo was registered with the state elections board on June 2 with a P.O. Box in Albany for a mailing address.
That Albany address is used by two other independent expenditure committees: Common Sense for the City of Albany, registered last year; and New Yorkers for Common Sense Thinking, registered in 2023. Neither of those committees have reported any activity of any kind since their formation — no money in, no money out.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroomAll three committees list an Albany attorney named Daniel McGinn as their manager. McGinn is an assistant attorney for Albany County, according to his LinkedIn account. He’s held jobs in various state agencies. He didn’t respond to phone or email inquiries regarding Common Sense for the City of Buffalo and its support for Scanlon.
The committee will not be obligated to reveal its donors until the next mandatory campaign finance disclosure deadline on July 11, well after the June 24 primary. As of Wednesday afternoon the committee had not reported the cost of the text campaign to the state elections board.
Past Democratic primaries for Buffalo mayor have cost the candidates less.
In 2009, incumbent Mayor Byron Brown and then South District Council Member Mickey Kearns spent less than $1 million between them.
In both 2013 and 2017, Brown and his primary opponents spent about $1.3 million, with the incumbent heavily outspending the challengers.
In the 2021, the campaign committees of Brown and India Walton, the victor, combined to spend less than $600,000 on their primary contest. The two campaigns proceeded to spend $2.5 million on the general election, in which Brown prevailed.
