BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County Board of Elections announced the absentee ballot count for the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo was completed Wednesday and India Walton will be the Democratic candidate in the November general election.
Walton declared victory on primary night while Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown did not concede, saying the race was "too close to call" and that he was waiting for every vote to be counted.
The Erie County Board of Elections says there were 1,002 absentee votes for Brown and 505 absentee votes for Walton. After the final tally of absentee votes, Walton holds a 1,010 vote lead over Brown and will be the Democratic candidate in the November general election for Mayor of Buffalo.
The Brown for Buffalo campaign officially launched a write-in campaign Monday and released the following statement Wednesday:
There is nothing more important than the democratic process in our society, which values each and every individual person’s vote. As I said at my announcement on Monday, I did not expect that the counting of the absentee ballots would change the preliminary results of last Tuesday’s Primary Election. Today that was confirmed. As I also stated, knowing how important our democratic process is, the General Election in November will decide who will be the next Mayor of the City of Buffalo. For that important reason, and based on the overwhelming support and encouragement I have received since last Tuesday’s Primary, I have made clear my intention to run in November’s General Election as a write-in candidate.
The India Walton Campaign released the following statement Wednesday:
The final results confirmed what we expected - the voters have spoken and elected me as the Democratic nominee for Mayor of Buffalo.”
