BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The day after Election Day we still do not officially know the winner of the race for Buffalo mayor.
The only candidate officially listed on the ballot was India Walton, the winner of the Democratic primary. Byron Brown, Ben Carlisle and Jaz Miles pursued write-in campaigns.
At the end of Election Day, Walton had 23,986 votes for around 41% of the vote and the write-in candidate category had 34,273 votes for around 59% of the vote.
Brown declared victory in the race Tuesday, while Walton (D) would not concede. In a statement Wednesday, Walton said that while her campaign is waiting on write-in and absentee votes to be tabulated, she said, "it seems unlikely that we will end up with enough votes" to become mayor.
Elections officials will need to count all of the write-in votes in order to determine if Brown has indeed defeated Walton. No timeline has been given on how long the process may take although Erie County Board of Elections said counting will begin November 16 and election results will need to be certified by November 27.
Below 7 Eyewitness News takes a look at the race by the numbers.
Democratic primary June 2021
Voter turnout was just over 20% as just over 23,000 voted.
Walton - 11,718
Brown - 10,669
Le'Candice Durham - 729
Other/Write-in votes - 70
General Election November 2021
According to Erie County Board of Elections more than 57,000 voted, the highest amount of votes for the race since Brown was elected for the first time. The last race for mayor of Buffalo there were 43,689 votes.
City Council Districts voting breakdown:
North
Walton - 1,523
Write-in - 3,109
Delaware
Walton - 4,639
Write-in - 6,470
University
Walton - 3,039
Write-in - 3,330
Niagara
Walton - 3,442
Write-in - 2,666
Masten
Walton - 2,920
Write-in - 2,566
Ellicott
Walton - 2,809
Write-in - 2,640
Fillmore
Walton - 2,299
Write-in - 2,957
Lovejoy
Walton - 1,581
Write-in - 3,032
South
Walton - 1,395
Write-in - 7,724
