As of 12:30 a.m. ET, about 59% of votes had been solid for write-in candidates, and 41% had gone for Walton. Brown’s marketing campaign seemingly accounts for the sturdy displaying for write-in candidates on the poll, however Erie County will not start to tabulate the write-in votes till November 17.
That makes it unimaginable to say definitively who voters wrote in, regardless of Brown’s victory declaration.
After successfully sitting out the nominating contest and refusing to interact with or debate Walton, Brown launched a well-funded common election marketing campaign asking voters — this time together with Independents and Republicans — to “Write Down Byron Brown.”
The marketing campaign distributed a stamp along with his identify by the tens of hundreds to assist keep away from misspellings and different clerical errors that may have tripped up his bid.
After being nearly ignored by prime Democrats this spring, the race attracted nationwide consideration as a proxy battle between progressives and moderates within the fall. Whereas some state Democratic leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul — a Buffalo native — stayed impartial, many big-name state Democrats had backed Walton, together with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer, who famous in his endorsement that Walton “received the Democratic major honest and sq..”
Walton had referred to as for redirecting $7.5 million from the Buffalo Police Division’s finances, an agenda that teed off a collection of assaults by Brown, who accused her of in search of to defund it — a time period she rejected.
“The stakes are dire and excessive if she was to get elected,” Brown mentioned in an interview with CNN earlier than early voting started. “She would take our metropolis horribly again. She would compromise our public security. She would elevate our taxes. She would assault different elected officers up and down the poll. It will be a nightmare for each particular person in our neighborhood.”
Walton, a nurse and neighborhood organizer, rejected Brown’s techniques and informed CNN that Brown misplaced credibility with Buffalo voters when he refused to bow out after shedding the first.
“Each advert that he comes out with is an assault on me and making folks really feel afraid of me or trying to take action,” Walton mentioned. “An honorable marketing campaign can be him sharing the plans that he has for the way forward for Buffalo. An honorable plan can be him proudly owning as much as the truth that he disrespected Buffalo voters by not operating a major contest.”
Schumer and Gillibrand did not go as far, however their choice to again Walton underscored rising progressive energy in New York State. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and sure 2022 gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams, the New York Metropolis public advocate and 2018 candidate for lieutenant governor, traveled to Buffalo to get out the vote for Walton, and the Working Households Occasion, a New York-based nationwide liberal group that backed Walton early, spent into the ultimate days of the race.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Lengthy Island Democrat, who can be rumored to be contemplating a problem to Hochul subsequent yr, was among the many out-of-towners to make the journey to Buffalo on Brown’s behalf.
“If the Democrats carry on permitting the socialist message to infiltrate the Democratic platform, we’ll lose. We’ll lose in Buffalo, we’ll lose in New York state, we’ll lose within the nation,” Suozzi informed CNN shortly earlier than the overall election.
“I received the Democratic major,” Walton mentioned. “I received as a result of I labored laborious. I received as a result of persons are prepared for change. I received as a result of Democrats turned out and voted for me. However we now have company Democrats who’re so determined to cling to what little energy they’ve left and stave off the progressive wing of our get together.”
Ethan Cohen contributed to this report.
