BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Seven candidates are officially in the race to become Buffalo’s next mayor — with a potential eighth candidate on the way.
Thursday was the deadline for mayoral hopefuls to submit their petitions to get their names on the primary ballot. Six Democratic Party candidates — Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, New York State Senator Sean Ryan ( the party’s endorsed nominee ), Buffalo Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt, former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, community advocate Anthony Tyson Thompson, and Greater Jefferson Avenue Business Association member Michael Gainer — all turned in at least 2,000 petition signatures from registered voters by 5 p.m. Another candidate, community organizer James Payne, has mailed his petition to the Board of Elections, the campaign told WIVB News 4. The Board of Elections must receive the petition by Monday in order for Payne to go on the ballot.
On the Republican side, James Gardner, a former law clerk for Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case — and the party’s endorsed nominee — also received enough signatures to qualify for the ballot…