Sean Ryan convincingly won today’s mayoral Democratic primary in the city of Buffalo, taking 46.45 percent of the vote, according to the Erie County Board of Elections. Interim Mayor Christopher Scanlon came in second with 35.19 percent of the votes.
Ryan’s vote total was 12,249 to Scanlon’s 9,279. The totals are unofficial, but there’s to reason to expect significant change when the final numbers are confirmed by the board of elections.
Ryan has represented North Buffalo, the city’s Upper West Side and the Elmwood Village in the State Senate since 2021. He had previously served in the New York State Assembly representing the city’s West Side.
Ryan was endorsed by the Erie County Democratic Committee and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
Other contenders included Anthony J.P. Tyson-Thompson who garnered 2.4 percent of the vote (632 votes), Rasheed N.C. Wyatt, who earned 7.67 percent (2,023 votes), and Garnell Whitfield Jr., who earned 8.10 percent (2,136 votes). There were also 50 write-in votes, accounting for .19 percent of the total.
While Scanlon has lost the Democratic line for the November 4 general election, he had filed paperwork with the Erie County Board of Elections to run as an independent. However, he did not mention continuing his campaign Tuesday night when he conceded the Democratic primary to Ryan.
Former assistant district attorney James Gardner will be on the Republican line in November.
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