One week to go in a relatively quite election season. And with the new state law moving most odd-year elections to even-numbered years this is sort of the end of a long tradition.
The major local race on the ballot this year is for mayor of Buffalo.
All three candidates – Democratic and Working Families candidate Sean Ryan; Republican and Conservative candidate James Gardner; and independent candidate Michael Gainer – have by all reports been working hard speaking with voters.
Here are the financial reports for this race and some others of note covering the period from September 30 through October 20:
Mayor of Buffalo
- Ryan: Raised $29,040; spent from two Committees $84,582; cash on hand in two Committees $20,515
- Gardner: Raised $286,537 from personal funds; spent $288,576; cash on hand $0
- Gainer: Raised $3,700; spent $2,517; cash on hand $1,027
All told Gardner has spent nearly $400,000 of personal funds thus far in this campaign. His most recent campaign financial report fails to explain what he spent his money on, as required by state law. Woof!
He spent more than $500,000 of his own money in his campaign for District Attorney last year, which he lost in a landslide.
Erie County Comptroller
- Kevin Hardwick (Incumbent – D,WF): Raised $41,595; spent $102,312; cash on hand $58,167
- Christine Czarnik (R,C): Raised $25,201 including $11,878 from the Erie County Republican Committee and a transfer of $7,337 from the Christine for Senate Committee. (Her Senate campaign committee last year received $111,865 in public funds from the state of New York.) The Senate Committee’s report does not indicate any transfer to the Comptroller Committee account but does report a transfer to the Erie County Republican Committee – strange accounting; spent $41,499; cash on hand $7,835
Erie County Sheriff
- John Garcia (Incumbent – R,C): Raised $1,000; spent $23,553, which includes the transfer of $17,000 to the Erie County Republican Committee; cash on hand $506,185
Garcia has no opponent listed on the ballot but it is easy to write-in a name if you choose. Given Garcia’s muddled, non-transparent handling of the D.J. Granville case and some other issues there might be a few more write-ins than usual cast in this race.
Supervisor of the Town of Amherst
- Shawn Lavin (D,WF): Raised $2,700; spent $92,036; cash on hand $7,422
- Dan Gagliardo (R,C): Raised: $13,390 including a $500 contribution from the Eastern Hills Sunrise Rotary Club; Rotary Clubs are usually 501(c)(3) organizations prohibited by federal law from making political contributions; spent $22,841; cash on hand $24,786
Supervisor of the Town of Hamburg
- Robert Reynolds (D): Raised $2,520; spent $8,387; cash on hand $3,745
- Beth Farrell-Lorentz (R,C): No financial report was on the state BOE website as of the close of business, October 27th.
- Josh Collins (Write-in): Raised $400; spent $10; cash on hand $577
Some facts, observations, and heard-on-the-streets
- Speaking about the Town of Hamburg, what the heck is going on there? A trifecta: Collins lost the Republican primary to Farrell Lorentz by 22 votes but he’s carrying on with signs and other campaign materials that indicate he is serious about his write-in effort. Such things do not usually work without a ton of money being spent – the Brown for Mayor write-in in 2021 being the prime example. Will two Republicans splitting the vote give Democrat Reynolds an opening? Republican Town Board member Frank Bogulski is reportedly supporting Collins.
- And then there is the race for Hamburg Town Justice where two Democrats are vying for the office, Walter Rooth III and Lisa Poch. Rooth, however, is on the Republican line. Former Congressman Jack Quinn is supporting Rooth. For a race for a Justice position this election is getting nasty with both sides trading charges about who is supporting whom.
- And there is more – some very nasty charges flying around in the race for Hamburg Highway Superintendent.
- Republicans in Amherst currently hold no town offices. Democrat Lavin has raised and spent more money than Republican Gagliardo. Lavin and his Town Board running mates also have the advantage of a heavy Democratic enrollment edge. For those who may not be subscribing anymore, Lavin had a very positive editorial endorsement from the Buffalo News: “Amherst will benefit from Lavin’s calm, competent leadership.”
- Cheektowaga has four Council seats on the ballot. The Republicans are running a couple former Democrats while the Democrats offering some new faces.
- Turnout will be an issue for both parties this year. In Buffalo the turnout may be in the 30-35 percent range. Maybe the same for the suburbs where there are so many uncontested elections. Amherst, Cheektowaga, and Hamburg will see higher voting numbers than the rest of the county.
- The Republicans seem to be having a problem with some of their operatives having an affinity for Nazis. House Speaker Mike Johnson did a poor job of trying to wiggle his way out of the controversy. One of the members of the now former organization known as the New York State Young Republicans had previously worked for state Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt. Erie County Republican Chairman Michael Kracker was quick to delete an internet photo of him with Young Republicans leader Bobby Walker who is part of the controversy.
- It is turning out that issues concerning Medicaid/Affordable Health Care Act medical coverage and the nutrition program SNAP, issues that Republicans thought were safely tucked away until after the mid-term elections, are now about to have a major impact in blue and red states throughout the country.
- The New York Times has a story, similar to much local reporting, about the large decline in Canadian activity in various American businesses, sporting events, and community attractions due to Donald Trump’s belligerent attitude and erratic tariff policies concerning Canada. Western New York’s two Republican members of Congress, Claudia Tenney and Nick Langworthy, have been mostly silent about this serious WNY economic issue.
- We are just days away from Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s official announcement of her candidacy for governor. Things got balled up recently when her staff presented the results of an internal poll. It seems that a federal election account should not be used to pay for state-related polling. Will she transfer her entire $10.9 million federal account to the gubernatorial race?
- Did the Bills right the ship with their win over Carolina? We better hope so, with Kansas City coming to town next Sunday.
Early voting
Early voting 2025 continues through Sunday, November 2nd.
Here are links to the Erie and Niagara Counties Board of Elections websites that note the dates and times and locations that the polls will be opened. The same information is available on the websites of other counties.
Erie County: EARLYVOTING2025GEN.pub
Niagara County: 2025-09-16-080138-2025-general-election-early-voting-communication-plan.pdf
Publisher’s note
With next Tuesday’s elections the next edition of Politics and Other Stuff will be published on Wednesday, November 5th.
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