Oct 9
2025
Ryan leads the money race
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With less than a month to go in the race, State Sen. Sean Ryan, the Democratic nominee for Buffalo mayor, has more money left in his campaign account than his two rivals — James Gardner, running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, and Michael Gainer, running on the independent Restore Buffalo line.
The most recent campaign finance disclosure forms, due to the state elections board last Friday, paint a picture of a race whose energy and donors’ dollars are largely spent. Meanwhile, Gardner and Gainer have turned to other platforms — particularly social media — to remind voters the race isn’t over.
Ryan in July, after a hard-fought primary campaign, had less than $24,000 left in his main campaign account. He’d spent nearly $1.5 million — including more than $300,000 in the campaign’s last week and a half. His chief rival, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, spent nearly $1.4 million.
In the three months since, Ryan raised $183,306 and spent $146,584. As of last week, he had $60,200 on hand in his principal campaign account.
State Sen. Sean Ryan.
Ryan’s biggest donors since the primary include The Rev. Michael Chapman, the pastor and Fruit Belt real-estate developer; Anthony Masiello, the former mayor, now a lobbyist, who supported Scanlon in the primary; and Wheatfield Development, LLC, a company controlled by developer Sam Savarino. Each gave $10,ooo.
Savarino as an individual gave another $7,500. Alternative Information Systems, an IT company that does business with the city and the school district, gave the same amount. So did Alex Alarshi, a vaping entrepreneur and investor.
Byron Brown, the former mayor who now heads Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., gave Ryan’s campaign $1,500. BPTM’s Holly Kirkpatrick on Monday reported that the Ryan campaign gave the money back.
A separate Ryan campaign committee, the Sean Ryan Victory Fund, reported a balance just shy of $6,000. In July it reported just over $12,000 on hand. It’s been used the last three months to make donations to charitable causes, as well as a couple of Democratic candidates.
Gardner self-funds, Gainer goes nontraditional
Gardner, the Republican, did not register a campaign committee until after the last mandatory filing deadline in July, so last week’s was his first disclosure.
Gardner reported raising $118,097 over the past three months and spending $114,580, leaving a balance as of last week of $3,516.
James Gardner.
Gardner comes from a wealthy family — his great-great-grandfather, Edward Butler, founded The Buffalo News — and he is his own biggest donor. He’s put $107,209 of his own money into his mayoral campaign so far, according to the filing.
Buffalo Police Det. Adam Wigdorski ($1,521) and the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association ($1,000) gave big donations. Former Congressman Chris Jacobs pitched in $500, as did Kevin Helfer, once parking commissioner and top advisor to former Mayor Byron Brown.
Gardner’s biggest expenditure was $100,000 to Syndicate Strategies, a political consulting firm based in Latham, N.Y., which the candidate paid himself. The rest were fundraising expenses, campaign literature and lawn signs.
This is Gardner’s second run for elected office. Last year the former prosecutor and judicial clerk ran for Erie County District Attorney. He paid more than half that campaign’s $500,000 in expenses out of his own pocket, according to disclosure reports, and lost to Democrat Michael Keane.
Gainer is founder of Buffalo ReUse Action, an East Side business that reclaims, recycles and sells building materials. He will appear on the Restore Buffalo ballot line, which he created with fellow community activist Betty Jean Grant, who is running for the Erie County Legislature seat from which she retired in 2017.
Michael Gainer.
In July Gainer’s campaign committee reported $3,752 in receipts and $4,035 in expenses. Gainer gave his campaign $1,000. So did real-estate investor Bill Breeser. Jacobs, the former congressman, gave $500, and attorney Adam Walters gave $300.
Gainer’s biggest expense was $1,373 for lawn signs, followed by the cost of campaign flyers, T-shirts and wages for a canvasser who helped him gather signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The new report shows Gainer kicking in another $2,000 of his own and spending $2,812 — most of it for video editing and photography. To get his message out, Gainer has been posting videos to social media, especially Facebook and Instagram. Gardner has been doing the same thing, but his money has allowed him to purchase some television time, too.
“I haven’t raised much money,” Gainer told Investigative Post, “but I’m picking up the pace a bit because we have things we are doing that require it.”
Other Erie County races
November’s ballot is chock full of races in which Erie County voters have no choice, short of writing in a candidate’s name.
Incumbent Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, running for a second term on the Republican and Conservative lines, is unopposed.
There are two state Supreme Court seats on the ballot, and exactly two candidates to choose from, both cross-endorsed by the Republican, Democratic and Conservative parties.
The same is true for Erie County Court judgeships — two openings, two cross-endorsed candidates. Incumbent Erie County Family Court Judge Brenda Freedman is also cross-endorsed and unopposed.
Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick, a Democrat, has a challenger in Christine Czarnik, an accountant who last year ran against Ryan for state senate.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroomIn July, Czarnik reported $15,113 in her campaign account. She’s raised $19,186 since then and spent $10,166. She had $24,133 on hand as of last week.
Czarnik’s biggest donor in the past three months was Garcia, the sheriff, whose campaign committee sent her $5,000. Her biggest expenses were for lawn signs, mailers and fundraisers.
Hardwick’s committee last week reported $124,183 in the bank. The incumbent raised $22,749 and spent S11,149. His biggest donor was Erie County Democratic Committee Chair Jeremy Zellner, whose campaign committee sent Hardwick $5,000.
He also got $1,000 donations from Hawkins Delafield and Wood LLP, a bond counseling firm that does business with the county; East Aurora attorney Gerald Paradise; two of his deputies, Tim Callan and Mary Nytz-Hosler; the United Steelworkers District 4; a political action committee run by former Congressman Brian Higgins; and Erie County Execute Mark Poloncarz’s campaign committee.
Hardwick’s major expenses included lawn signs, fundraisers and video production for TV ads.
Six of 11 Erie County Legislature incumbents are running for reelection unopposed. Three of the remaining five face only token opposition.
Incumbent District 1 Legislator Lawrence Dupre, a Democrat, is facing Republican William Respress, who hasn’t registered a fundraising committee. Republican Scott Marciszewski, who is challenging incumbent District 4 Legislator John Bargnesi, also lacks a committee. Incumbent District 3 Legislator Michael Kooshooian’s opponent, Republican Stephan Monpremier, reported having spent just $101 so far on his campaign.
In Amherst, Christina Coyle-Lenz is running on the Republican and Conservative lines against incumbent District 5 Legislator Jeanne Vinal, a Democrat. Coyle-Lenz reported spending $5,627 on the effort so far — more than any other challenger.
The biggest spender among the incumbents is District 2 Legislator Taisha St. Jean Tard. She and Dupre both were appointed to vacancies last year, retained their seats in special elections, and are now seeking full, two-year terms. Her challenger is well known community activist Betty Jean Grant, who has served two years on the Buffalo Common Council, three years on the Buffalo Board of Education and 10 years on the Erie County Legislature, including four years as its chair.
Grant has not filed any disclosure reports this election cycle. St. Jean Tard reported spending $27,277 on her campaign since the beginning of the year.
