Five candidates are running for the Democratic nomination for mayor of Buffalo on June 24, 2025. Acting Mayor Christopher P. Scanlon (D) and Sean Ryan (D) lead in fundraising and media attention.
City & State’s Austin C. Jefferson wrote, “Whoever wins the race and the following general election will be on the front lines of an ongoing trade dispute with Canada and will need to grapple with a city budget shortfall in the tens of millions.”
According to Buffalo Toronto Public Media’s Jamal Harris Jr., both candidates have different advantages heading into the primary election: “Senator Sean Ryan has a strong presence in the Delaware district and North Buffalo. […] Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon is of course, the acting mayor which essentially comes with free press anytime he wants it, along with strong support in Buffalo’s South district.”
Scanlon served on the Buffalo Common Council from 2011 to 2024 and as council president from January to October 2024. Due to being council president, Scanlon became acting mayor in October 2024 after then-Mayor Byron Brown (D) resigned. Scanlon previously worked as a business manager.
Scanlon said he would “focus on ensuring all residents have access to safe, healthy, high quality, affordable housing, making sure our community is safer and reducing crime in all of our neighborhoods, creating new, good paying jobs and career opportunities while allowing our businesses to flourish.”
Ryan has served in the New York Senate since 2020. During his first term in the Senate, Ryan represented District 60 but began representing District 61 in subsequent terms due to redistricting. Ryan previously served in the New York Assembly from 2011 to 2021. Ryan previously worked as an attorney.
Ryan said he would “address our everyday problems, and tackle the big tough challenges that we have dealt with for too long—fiscal mismanagement, crumbling infrastructure, entrenched poverty, and a housing crisis that’s holding us back.”
Local unions have endorsed both candidates. According to Buffalo State University’s Dr. Laurie Buonanno, union endorsements are an advantage for both candidates because “union support means foot soldiers and it means phone calls and it means money.” In addition to local unions, Carl P. Paladino (R) has endorsed Ryan. Meanwhile, the Erie County Democratic Committee and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz (D) have endorsed Ryan.
While Ryan and Scanlon are running in the Democratic primary, they have already qualified to run on other party lines for the general election—Scanlon is also running as an independent, and Ryan is running on the Working Families Party line. However, Scanlon has said he will not remain in the race if he loses the Democratic nomination.
University of Buffalo’s Shawn Donahue said, “In most states you can only be on the ballot once. We often go and vote where, literally, it’s the same candidate endorsed by all the top four parties, especially in a lot of judicial races. It does kind of give the losing candidate in a primary, which is always lower turnout than a general election, options in November.”
The ability for candidates to run on multiple party lines played a role in the 2021 general election. In the 2021 Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, India Walton (D) defeated incumbent Mayor Byron Brown (D), who served as mayor from 2005 to 2024, 51% to 46%. Following his primary defeat, Brown announced he would run in the general election as a write-in candidate. Brown defeated Walton 60% to 40% in that year’s general election.
Anthony Tyson-Thompson (D), Garnell Whitfield (D), and Rasheed N.C. Wyatt (D) are also running.
Buffalo does not have term limits for the position of mayor. Mayors serve a four-year term. The last Republican mayor of Buffalo, Chester A. Kowal, left office in 1965.