Who is running for Buffalo mayor next year?

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon was ceremoniously sworn-in on Tuesday to the position he has held for just over a month.

Scanlon, who had served as the Buffalo Common Council president, began in his current role on Oct. 15 following former Mayor Byron Brown’s resignation to become president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Scanlon will continue to serve as Buffalo’s 63rd mayor leading up to the 2025 election that will fill the seat on a permanent basis.

Earlier this week, the Erie County Democratic Committee announced it will hold the first of three city-wide party forums with candidates on Dec. 5. At the forums, candidates will present campaign plans, outline their vision and answer questions ahead of an endorsement from the committee.

The next mayor will be just Buffalo’s fifth full-time mayor in the past 50 years. Here is a look at both candidates who have already announced their candidacy, and some who may end up running.

Chris Scanlon, Acting Mayor

Scanlon has not yet said either way if he will run again a year from now, but he will be a quasi-incumbent should he choose to run.

Scanlon has deep roots in South Buffalo from representing that area in the Common Council for over a decade, and played a major role in helping Brown get votes in that area when he held a write-in campaign to be re-elected as Buffalo’s mayor in 2021.

Scanlon has been criticized by other councilmembers for his relationship with Brown, but Scanlon said he did not see the relationship as a problem and that the council and mayor should be working collaboratively.

At Tuesday’s swearing in ceremony, Scanlon thanked both the residents and workers of Buffalo in his speech, where he spoke about his goals for the city’s future.

“Over the next few weeks and months, I will be announcing a series of initiatives that will make city government more efficient and cost effective, transparent and accountable, while addressing the issues that are important to all of us, including healthy and affordable housing, enhanced public safety, reliable city services, good schools, job creation and economic growth,” he said.

Who is Chris Scanlon? A look at Buffalo’s acting mayor

Sean Ryan, New York State Senator

Ryan, who currently serves as the representative for New York’s 61st State Senate seat, announced Saturday that he is running for Buffalo mayor in a video posted to social media.

He has served in his current role since 2020 after serving for a decade in the New York State Assembly. He was re-elected earlier this month.

In his video, Ryan said Buffalo “deserves better” and listed affordable housing, funding for schools and childcare, fighting discrimination and working on the city’s waterfront as some of the topics that constitute his platform.

Garnell Whitfield, former Buffalo Fire Commissioner

Sources told WIVB in September that Whitfield plans to run. He is expected to make the official announcement on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

Whitfield is the son of Ruth Whitfield, who was killed in the Tops mass shooting on May 14, 2022. Following the shooting, he gained national attention for spreading awareness of social justice and combatting white supremacy and domestic terrorism.

He served as the city’s fire commissioner from 2010 to 2017.

James McLeod, former Buffalo City Court judge

In an interview with WIVB News 4 Tuesday, Erie County Democratic Committee Chair Jeremy Zellner spoke more about the committee’s upcoming forums. He went on to say that Ryan, Scanlon and McLeod have asked for the committee’s endorsement.

McLeod, a Utica native, served as a city judge from 2009 to 2019. He has also held positions as a county family court hearing examiner, an assistant county attorney, a public defender and a law clerk for a State Supreme Court judge.

According to his alma mater’s website, McLeod was the second African American in Buffalo to be hired as an associate with a major law firm.

McLeod has also served on the YMCA Board of Directors and as legal counsel to the Buffalo Urban League.

India Walton, former mayoral candidate

Walton, who won the Democratic primary in 2021 against Byron Brown but then lost to Brown’s write-in campaign in 2021, has hinted on social media that she will run again.

“I thought I was certain that I would never run again, but after several conversations I think not only do I owe it to my people, but I think maybe I could beat [Scanlon],” she said in an August post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Walton currently serves as a Senior Strategist for RootsAction, a Democratic advocacy group.

Ryan Caughill

Caughill, who, according to his LinkedIn page, is an emergency preparedness consultant, has been posting on social media that he is running an independent campaign for mayor.

His LinkedIn does not list any political experience outside of being an appointed elections inspector for the Erie County Board of Elections for two months earlier this year.

Buffalo Common Council members

No current Buffalo Common Council members have said they are running, including some of the higher profile members such as Masten District Councilwoman Zeneta Everhart, Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope or University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt.

Everhart is a former aide for Congressman Tim Kennedy when he was a State Senator and the two remain close. Her son was injured in the Tops mass shooting and she has advocated for gun control on the national level, which included a trip to the White House last December.

Halton-Pope, who represents the Ellicott District and is majority leader, is still in her first term as a councilwoman after Darius Pridgen declined to run again.

Wyatt has name recognition outside of his district as a longtime and vocal critic of both Brown and Scanlon. He was the only member to vote against Scanlon becoming council president in January.

Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski has vied for both the seat for council president, which would have put him in line for mayor instead of Scanlon, as well as the 63rd State Senate seat, which eventually went to April McCants-Baskin.

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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can view more of her work here.

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