Taniqua Simmons
Taniqua Simmons (independent) ran for election for Mayor of Buffalo in New York. Simmons lost as a write-in in the general election on November 2, 2021.
2021 battleground election
Byron Brown (D) defeated India Walton (D) in the general election for mayor of Buffalo, New York, on November 2, 2021. Brown, who ran as a write-in candidate in the general election, received 59.6% of the vote to Walton's 40%.
Walton defeated Brown in the June 22 Democratic primary 51% to 46%.[1][2][3] Following his primary defeat, Brown announced he would run in the general election as a write-in candidate.[4]
Brown was first elected mayor of Buffalo in 2005 and won re-election three times before the 2021 election. Before losing the 2021 primary, he had won the four preceding Democratic mayoral primaries by an average margin of 26.5 percentage points.[5]
Prior to the election, The New York Times' Jesse McKinley said the mayoral race "reflects the defining tension within the national Democratic Party, pitting its new generation of left-wing politicians against its more moderate establishment," referring to Walton and Brown, respectively.[6]
Walton, a nurse and community activist, said Brown had not delivered results as mayor and his record "showed that he doesn't have much care ... for the people of Buffalo, unless they're wealthy developers or heads of large corporations."[7] She received endorsements from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the local and national branches of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the Working Families Party of New York.[8][9][10] She also received a general election endorsement from the Erie County Democratic Party, which endorsed Brown in the primary but switched its support to Walton following her primary election victory.[11]
Brown, who became the city's longest-serving mayor in January 2021, said Walton was "an unqualified, inexperienced, radical socialist," and described the general election as "a choice between proven results and false, empty promises."[12][13] He received general election endorsements from U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Common Councilmembers Joseph Golombek (D), Christopher Scanlon (D), and Ulysees Wingo (D), and former Mayor Anthony Masiello (D).[14][15][16] He also received endorsements from The Buffalo News and the local, county, and state police benevolent associations.[17][18][19]
Both Walton and Brown also received support from satellite organizations. The Working Families Party’s national PAC supported Walton with satellite spending, while the New York State Association of Realtors and the New York Republican Party supported Brown.[20][21][22]
Sean "Jaz" Miles (R), Benjamin Carlisle (I), William O’Dell (I), and Taniqua Simmons (I) also ran in the general election as write-in candidates.
Elections
2021
See also: Mayoral election in Buffalo, New York (2021)
General election
General election for Mayor of Buffalo
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Buffalo on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Byron Brown (D) (Write-in) | 58.2 | 38,108 |
 | India Walton (D) | 39.4 | 25,806 | |
| Benjamin Carlisle (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.3 | 219 | ||
| Sean Miles (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 23 | ||
| William O’Dell (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 8 | ||
| Taniqua Simmons (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.0 | 1,309 | ||
| Total votes: 65,473 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo
India Walton defeated incumbent Byron Brown and Le'Candice Durham in the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo on June 22, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | India Walton | 50.5 | 11,718 |
| Byron Brown | 46.0 | 10,669 | |
 | Le'Candice Durham | 3.1 | 729 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 70 | ||
| Total votes: 23,186 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Scott Wilson (D)
Republican primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ross M. Kostecky (R)
Working Families Party primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Byron Brown (Working Families Party)
- India Walton (Working Families Party)
- Working Families Party nomination
- New York allows for fusion voting, which is where more than one political party can support a common candidate. Consequently, the name of a single candidate can appear on the same ballot multiple times under multiple party lines. The Working Families Party of New York endorsed and nominated Walton in February 2021, but, on April 1, election officials ruled that she was ineligible to appear on the ballot as a Working Families Party candidate after she missed the deadlines to formally accept the group's nomination.[23]
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
| Mayoral election in Buffalo, 2021: general election polls[24] | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Date |  Brown (write-in)
|
Walton
|
 Miles (write-in)
|
 Carlisle (write-in)
|
O'Dell (write-in)
|
Simmons (write-in)
|
Other | Margin of error | Sample size | Sponsor | ||||||||||
| Emerson College/WIVB[25][26] | Oct. 22-23, 2021 | 54% | 36% | - | - | - | - | 10%[27] | ± 4.2 | 539 | N/A | ||||||||||
| Emerson College/WIVB[28] | Aug. 7-8, 2021 | 50% | 40% | - | - | - | - | 10%[29] | ± 3.3 | 862 | N/A | ||||||||||
Campaign finance
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[30][31][32]
This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.
On Oct. 31, 2021, InvestigativePost's Geoff Kelly wrote:
| “ |
As of Halloween, outside groups had doled out close to $1 million in independent expenditures — that is, at least under the law, money spent without the knowledge or consent of the candidates — supporting or attacking the two leading candidates. That’s about one-eighth of all the independent expenditure dollars spent on politics across the entire state this fall.[33][34] |
” |
Below is a breakdown of satellite spending identified by Ballotpedia:
- On Oct. 31, 2021, Kelly reported that Good Government for New York had spent $79,000 on mailers opposing Walton.[33]
- On Oct. 22, the Huffington Post's Daniel Marans reported that the New York Republican Party had paid for mailers supporting Brown and opposing Walton.[21] View the mailers here.
- The New York State Association of Realtors Fund spent $170,704 on canvassing in support of Brown on Sept. 15, 2021. InvestigativePost's Geoff Kelly described the group as "a lobbying organization that supports the real estate industry."[20] On Oct. 31, Kelley reported that the group also spent $117,000 on direct mail in October.[33]
- On Oct. 19, 2021, The Intercept's Ryan Grim reported that the WFP National PAC, the political activity branch of the national Working Families Party, spent $150,000 on advertisements opposing Brown. View the ad here.[22] The Investigative Post's Geoff Kelly reported the group also spent $30,000 on phone banking.[35] By Oct. 31, Kelly reported that the state and national branches of the Working Families Party had spent a total of $587,000 supporting Walton.[33]
Noteworthy endorsements
This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.
Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.
| Noteworthy endorsements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorsement | Brown (D) (write-in) | Walton (D) | ||||
| Newspapers and editorials | ||||||
| Buffalo Bangla[36] | ✔ | |||||
| The Buffalo News[17] | ✔ | |||||
| Panorama Hispano News[37] | ✔ | |||||
| Elected officials | ||||||
| U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)[38] | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)[39] | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)[10] | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)[40] | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)[41] | ✔ | |||||
| U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.)[14] | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D)[42] | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Sean Ryan (D)[43] | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Julia Salazar (D)[42] | ✔ | |||||
| State Assm. Phara Souffrant Forrest (D)[42] | ✔ | |||||
| State Assm. Emily Gallagher (D)[42] | ✔ | |||||
| State Assm. Zohran Mamdani (D)[42] | ✔ | |||||
| State Assm. Marcela Mitaynes (D)[42] | ✔ | |||||
| State Assm. Jonathan Rivera (D)[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Erie County Legislator April Baskin (D)[44] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams (D)[45] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Common Councilman Joseph Golombek (D)[15] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Common Councilman Christopher Scanlon (D)[15] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Common Councilman Ulysees Wingo (D)[15] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Common Councilman Rasheed Wyatt (D)[46] | ✔ | |||||
| New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (D)[47] | ✔ | |||||
| Individuals | ||||||
| Frmr. Mayor Anthony Masiello (D)[16] | ✔ | |||||
| 2018 N.Y. gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon (D)[48] | ✔ | |||||
| 2018 N.Y. attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout (D)[49] | ✔ | |||||
| Organizations | ||||||
| AFSCME Local #815[50] | ✔ | |||||
| Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342[51] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council[52] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Council of Supervisors and Administrators[53] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Police Benevolent Association[19] | ✔ | |||||
| Buffalo Professional Firefighters, Local 282[54] | ✔ | |||||
| Civil Service Employees Association Local 1000[50] | ✔ | |||||
| Democracy for America[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Democratic Socialists of America[55][43] | ✔ | |||||
| Elect Black Women[43] | ✔ | |||||
| EMILY's List[56] | ✔ | |||||
| Erie County Democratic Committee[57] | ✔[58] | |||||
| Erie County Sheriff's Police Benevolent Association[19] | ✔ | |||||
| Grassroots Law Project[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Her Bold Move[43] | ✔ | |||||
| International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 10[43] | ✔ | |||||
| International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 52[54] | ✔ | |||||
| International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 121[59] | ✔ | |||||
| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 41[60] | ✔ | |||||
| International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local 3 New York[61] | ✔ | |||||
| International Union of Operating Engineers Local 17[62] | ✔ | |||||
| Ironworkers Local No. 6[63] | ✔ | |||||
| Lead Locally[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Muslim Alliance of Western New York[64] | ✔ | |||||
| New York State Nurses Association[65] | ✔ | |||||
| New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association[19] | ✔ | |||||
| Our City Action Buffalo[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Our Revolution[43] | ✔ | |||||
| People's Action Institute[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Progressive Change Campaign Committee[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Progressive Women of New York[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Rochester Regional Workers United[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Run for Something[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Tenants PAC[43] | ✔ | |||||
| United Auto Workers Region 9[66] | ✔ | |||||
| United Court Security Oficers[54] | ✔ | |||||
| United Food and Commerical Workers Local One[43] | ✔ | |||||
| Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO[67] | ✔ | |||||
| Western New York Association of Retired Law Enforcement Personnel[68] | ✔ | |||||
| Western New York Communication Workers of America[69] | ✔ | |||||
| Western New York Teamsters Joint Council #46[63] | ✔ | |||||
| Workers United[70] | ✔ | |||||
| Working Families Party of New York[43] | ✔ | |||||
2019
See also: City elections in Buffalo, New York (2019)
General election
General election for Buffalo Common Council Masten District
Incumbent Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr. defeated Veronica Golden in the general election for Buffalo Common Council Masten District on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr. (D) | 79.6 | 2,708 |
| Veronica Golden (Working Families Party) | 16.5 | 561 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 4.0 | 135 | ||
| Total votes: 3,404 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Buffalo Common Council Masten District
Incumbent Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr. defeated Nathan Boyd, Veronica Golden, and Jennifer Strickland in the Democratic primary for Buffalo Common Council Masten District on June 25, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ulysees O. Wingo, Sr. | 48.8 | 1,231 |
| Nathan Boyd | 28.3 | 713 | ||
| Veronica Golden | 11.5 | 290 | ||
| Jennifer Strickland | 11.4 | 288 | ||
| Total votes: 2,522 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Green primary election
No Green candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Taniqua Simmons (G)
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Taniqua Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Taniqua Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Erie County Board of Elections, "Official 2021 Primary Canvass Books," accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ The New York Times, "India Walton stuns longtime incumbent in Buffalo mayoral primary." June 23, 2021
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "2021 primary election results: Buffalo mayor and Erie County sheriff," accessed June 23, 2021
- ↑ WGRZ, "Mayor Byron Brown: 'I will be a candidate for mayor, as a write-in for the November General Election,'" June 28, 2021
- ↑ Our Campaigns, "Brown, Byron W.," accessed June 23, 2021
- ↑ The New York Times, "India Walton Beat the Buffalo Mayor in a Primary. He Won’t Give Up." Sept. 27, 2021
- ↑ Jacobin, "India Walton: Byron Brown Is a “Sore Loser” Whose Pro-Corporate Policies Have Failed Buffalo," Sept. 8, 2021
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Working Families' nod to Walton sets primary, general election challenge to Brown," Feb. 24, 2021
- ↑ India Walton's 2021 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed June 23, 2021
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Twitter, "Chuck Schumer," Oct. 21, 2021
- ↑ WIVB, "Erie County Democrats make Walton endorsement official," Aug. 26, 2021
- ↑ WGRZ, "Mayor Byron Brown: 'I will be a candidate for mayor, as a write-in for the November General Election,'" June 28, 2021
- ↑ WGRZ, "Walton, Brown share visions for the city during Buffalo mayoral debate," Sept. 9, 2021
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 9, 2021
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 WKBW, "Support for Mayor Brown’s write-in," June 29, 2021
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Scribd, "Brown for Buffalo Announces Supporters of Write-In Campaign," June 29, 2021
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Buffalo News, "The Editorial Board: Re-elect Brown, who knows how to govern, unlike the dangerously inexperienced Walton," Oct. 23, 2021
- ↑ KPVI, "Hochul marches in Buffalo Labor Day Parade," Sept. 6, 2021
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Spectrum News 1, "Police benevolent associations endorse Mayor Brown for re-election," Oct. 12, 2021
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 InvestigativePost, "State realtors spend big money on Brown campaign," Oct. 13, 2021
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Twitter, "Daniel Marans," Oct. 22, 2021
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Twitter, "Ryan Grim," Oct. 19, 2021
- ↑ WBFO, "Walton misses deadline for Working Party mayoral nomination," April 1, 2021
- ↑ A cell marked "-" means the candidate was not listed in the poll.
- ↑ WIVB, "Frequency Table," accessed Oct. 28, 2021
- ↑ WIVB, "EXCLUSIVE: Byron Brown expands lead on India Walton in latest Buffalo mayoral poll," Oct. 26, 2021
- ↑ Someone else: 4%
Undecided: 6% - ↑ Emerson College Polling, "Buffalo, NY: Incumbent Mayor Brown Leads Mayoral Race with Write-In Campaign," accessed Sept. 15, 2021
- ↑ Unsure: 8%
Someone else: 2% - ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Investigative Post, "The Buffalo mayor’s race is expensive — scary expensive," Oct. 31, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Investigative Post, "AOC coming to Buffalo for India Walton," Oct. 20, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Buffalo Bangla," Sept. 10, 2021
- ↑ Panorama Hispano News, "Mayor Byron Brown Gets Panorama Hispano News Endorsement," Sept. 15,2021
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Kirsten Gillibrand backs India Walton for mayor," Oct. 22, 2021
- ↑ Twitter, "Ryan Nobles," Oct. 11, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton For Buffalo," Oct. 30, 2021
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Ocasio-Cortez to stump for Walton in Buffalo; Hochul remains on sidelines," Oct. 20, 2021
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 42.5 City & State New York, "This week's biggest Winners & Losers," accessed Sept. 16, 2021
- ↑ 43.00 43.01 43.02 43.03 43.04 43.05 43.06 43.07 43.08 43.09 43.10 43.11 43.12 43.13 43.14 43.15 43.16 43.17 43.18 India Walton's campaign website, "Endorsements," archived Sept. 16, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton For Buffalo," Sept. 20, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 9, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton For Buffalo," Oct. 22, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton For Buffalo," June 20, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton for Buffalo," May 29, 2021
- ↑ Buffalow News, "Another Voice: India Walton is needed to put a stop to City Hall cronyism," Oct. 6, 2021
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 WIVB, "Two major labor unions endorse Byron Brown for Mayor of Buffalo," Sept. 6, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 7, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 16, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 16, 2021
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 54.2 Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 22, 2021
- ↑ The local Buffalo DSA branch also endorsed Walton.
- ↑ Challenger Community News, "India Walton Welcomes Endorsement from EMILY’s List," Aug. 15, 2021
- ↑ WGRZ, "Walton wins Erie County Democrats' endorsement in Buffalo mayoral race," Aug. 26, 2021
- ↑ The Erie County Democratic Committee endorsed Brown in the Democratic primary.
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 17, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 21, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 18, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 20, 2021
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 13, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton For Buffalo," Oct. 11, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "India Walton For Buffalo," Oct. 19, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 9, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 21, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 19, 2021
- ↑ Facebook, "Byron W. Brown," Oct. 21, 2021
- ↑ WIVB, "Workers United endorse India Walton," Sept. 17, 2021
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