All political committees in the state, including candidates in the recent primary elections, were required to file their financial reports on July 15th.
Here is a summary of some key candidate committees. Money raised since January 11th, or in the case of candidates in a primary this year, since June 9th is indicated as “R”; money spent over the same time frames is indicated as “S”; cash-on-hand as of July 11 is indicated as “C.”
This report will be updated if additional information becomes available.
Candidates for mayor of Buffalo
- Sean Ryan – since June 9th– R — $246,551; S — $346,028; C — $2,978
- James Gardner – No committee on file
- Michael Gainer – No report available as of July 16th AM
- Chris Scanlon – R — $113,099; S — $431,928; C — $21,509
Scanlon will not be a candidate in the November election.
Ryan has to rebuild his campaign treasury. His fundraising in past campaigns has shown that he does well with that. He should now also see some of Scanlon’s contributors moving in his direction.
Gardner is a wealthy individual who, in his race for Erie County District Attorney in 2024 which he lost in a landslide, was able to pour more than $500,000 of his own money into his campaign treasury. Whether he is prepared to do the same in the election for mayor remains to be seen.
Except for whatever is reported in this July report Michael Gainer’s prospects for raising a competitive amount of money are unknown at this time.
Candidates for Erie County Comptroller
- Kevin Hardwick — R — $57,052; S — $14,576; C — $112,583
- Christine Czarnik — R — $22,679; S — $7,566; C — $15,113
Amherst Supervisor
- Shawn Lavin – R — $62,948; S — $8,724; C — $87,040
- Dan Gagliardo – raised and spent since June 9th — R — $3,075; S — $5,598; C — $18,326
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia raised $119,427; spent $65,526; and has $554,889 cash-on-hand.
The next reports we will see for this year’s local candidates will be filed on October 3rd.
Candidates for governor in 2026
- Governor Kathy Hochul raised $4,372,617 since January and has $17,488,735 in her campaign treasury.
- Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado plans to challenge Hochul in next year’s Democratic party. Delgado “raised” $1,362,270. That total, however, includes substantial funds from his previous lt. governor account that had $968,751 cash-on-hand last January.
- Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s federal campaign account has $10 million cash-on-hand, which is $1.3 million more than she had in January. She had $8.7 million on January 1, 2025. That money could be used in a run for state office.
- Congressman Michael Lawler’s congressional campaign report is up-to-date and shows that he has $2.2 million cash-on-hand. Like Stefanik, Lawler’s funds could be used in state campaign.
- Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman raised nearly $2 million since January and has $3.3 million cash-on-hand.
Candidates for statewide office will be eligible for matching public funding beginning in 2026.
Changing most local elections to even-numbered years
Recently enacted state legislation that would change the election cycle of most local offices to even-numbered years is still up in the air. State Republicans have challenged the law which is now before the State Court of Appeals with a hearing scheduled for September 8. No stay has been put in place so the change likely will not be operative in 2025.
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