Voter guide: 2021 primary elections

For Mayor Byron W. Brown, the campaign trail in these last days before Tuesday's Democratic primary varies little from his regular travels through Buffalo.

On Thursday, for example, the four-term incumbent seeking an unprecedented fifth term stood before a phalanx of television cameras at Lafayette High School to launch the "Earn While You Learn" program assisting 200 students most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The idea, he explained, is for Buffalo Public Schools and the City of Buffalo to financially subsidize students who need both summer school and income to support themselves or their families.

Questions and answers about Tuesday’s primary elections:

• Why has an election for mayor of Buffalo, featuring Byron Brown’s unprecedented campaign for a fifth term, proven so low-key?

They don’t come around all that often, Democratic primaries for Erie County sheriff.

More often, the party comes up with just one candidate for the office. It’s often won by a Republican because Buffalo’s typically ho-hum mayoral races, held on the same four-year cycle, do little to draw out the city’s Democratic numbers that can tilt a countywide contest.

Evans Republicans and Democrats decided to bypass two candidates with experience on the Town Board and opted instead for new faces for the board.

There will be new members of the board no matter who wins Tuesday's primaries, because the board will increase from three to five members Jan. 1.

The Republican and Democratic parties in Lancaster took an unusual step ahead of Tuesday's primaries: 

They cross-endorsed a full slate of candidates for two Town Board seats, highway superintendent and town justice.

The three-way race for a Niagara Falls City Court judgeship has boiled over, with two of the candidates exchanging charges about their personal histories while the third tries to stay above the fray.

Jenelle L. Faso and Dominic H. Saraceno, both assistant Niagara County public defenders, and Corporation Counsel Christopher M. Mazur are the contenders in the Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Working Families primaries.

The Democratic primary election will determine which of three Erie County Legislature candidates will represent Buffalo residents across a broad cross section of the city, stretching from the Lower West Side to the Lower East Side.

Incumbent 1st District Legislator Howard Johnson, who has just completed his first full term, will face two community advocates: Samuel Herbert, a longtime resident and frequent candidate for the Common Council Fillmore District seat; and Dominique Calhoun, an activist who has recently gained prominence as part of the local police reform efforts. 

A former Erie County legislator is running for supervisor against the endorsed Democrat, the incumbent highway superintendent did not get his party's endorsement for re-election, and a union-backed candidate is challenging the endorsed Democrats for Town Board seats.

The Conservative and Working Families parties endorsed the same two Democrats for Hamburg Town Board, and the Conservatives ignored an incumbent Conservative councilman.

Saturday was the first day of early voting for the June 22 primary election, but the scene bore little resemblance to those at early voting sites last year.

In 2020, 25.4% of Erie County registered voters – almost 168,000 people – took advantage of the nine early voting days before the presidential election. This year, with only local offices on the line, the numbers are dramatically smaller. 

Minor party primary races rarely attract much widespread attention, especially in an Erie County Legislature race.

But the Republican Party is trying to recapture the majority this year, and doing that may depend on the ability for a former foreman and restaurant employee to win the Conservative Party primary against a longtime Town of Tonawanda councilman.

When Hamburg Highway Superintendent Ted Casey saw a record indicating his opponent, Ed Hughes – who also works for the town Highway Department – had filed for unemployment benefits, he cried fraud.

There was indeed fraud going on – but Hughes was the victim of it, not committing it, according to both Hughes and the Blasdell village administrator.

What are enterprising political candidates to do when needing another ballot line and old stand-by parties like Independence and Green have gone the way of Whigs?

They form their own party, of course.

Some thoughts and observations on politics around here:

• Who would ever believe that the election for Erie County sheriff would spark two major party primaries attracting five candidates?

Karen L. Healy-Case, the retired Buffalo Police Department lieutenant and endorsed Republican candidate for sheriff, is working hard this election season to label her opponent a "never Trump" newcomer to the GOP with no business running in the party's primary.

"John Garcia only switched to Republican to run this race," she said of her primary challenger, a retired Buffalo detective. "He had no interest in being a Republican all those years ... when I've actively contributed to the success of this party for 10 years."

Democratic sheriff candidate Kimberly L. Miller-Beaty picked up her most significant endorsement to date Friday when Assemblyman Patrick B. Burke announced his support.

Burke, a Democrat from Orchard Park, broke with the leadership of his own party and its endorsement of Brian J. Gould, assistant chief of the Cheektowaga Police Department.

The two Republican candidates for sheriff who will face each other in their party's June 22 primary are locked in a fierce battle for campaign funds.

John C. Garcia and Karen L. Healy-Case are reporting six-digit figures as they compete in an unprecedented GOP primary.

Democratic candidates for Erie County sheriff agreed on this at their debate Monday: Change is needed at the Sheriff's Department.

The candidates said they would find alternatives to solitary confinement in jail, train officers in de-escalation techniques and hold deputies and officers accountable for their actions.

It seems most appropriate in the unconventional 2021 contest for Erie County sheriff that the issues are unconventional, too.

At least seven candidates on major party and independent lines are emphasizing everything from police brutality to refusing enforcement of "unconstitutional" mandates – topics raised this year more than any previous law enforcement election.

Sheriff’s candidate Kimberly Beaty has two cases of “discourtesy” on the disciplinary record created during her almost 28 years with the Buffalo Police Department.

It's always seemed a good bet that Western New York's left-leaning Workers Family Party would back Democratic candidates each election.

But it's different this spring in the crowded and convoluted contest for Erie County sheriff.

The Erie County Democratic Committee unanimously endorsed Cheektowaga Assistant Police Chief Brian J. Gould as its candidate for Erie County sheriff Saturday and wasted no time bashing the outgoing Republican sheriff and GOP candidates seeking the office.

Gould, a 24-year veteran of the town police department, looks to consolidate his support by gaining the Working Families committee endorsement, which activist Myles L. Carter is also seeking. Myles has until March 25 to file petitions should he seek a Democratic primary challenge.

One of Buffalo's best known protesters against law enforcement excesses now wants to make his point while wearing a law enforcement uniform.

Myles Carter, who while marching in last summer's protests against police brutality was tackled by officers as television cameras rolled, said Monday that he will run for Erie County sheriff. He was slated to officially launch his bid during a late afternoon news conference.

Brian J. Gould, the assistant police chief in Cheektowaga who wants to be the next Erie County sheriff, supervised a half-dozen cops who broke up a fight between feuding neighbors one summer night in 2009. 

A man had sworn at the woman across the street, and her son chased after him. When it was over, Sean Trapper, 22, was charged with assault, and a man 30 years older was bleeding from an eye.

Kimberly L. Beaty has more than 30 years in law enforcement and believes she has credentials to make a strong push for the Erie County sheriff's seat as former deputy commissioner for the Buffalo Police Department. But according to her recount of conversations with the Erie County Democratic Party chairman, there was one thing Beaty didn't have.

The right look.

Republican sheriff candidate Karen L. Healy-Case launches the first ad of the 2021 political season Tuesday, and it is expected to set the tone for contentious primary and general elections to follow.

Healy-Case, a retired Buffalo police lieutenant and the endorsed Republican, is slated to begin about $100,000 worth of television ads with a conservative angle on three conservative-leaning stations. In her new offering, she starts with scenes from Grant and Lafayette avenues on Buffalo's West Side and 30-year-old news clippings outlining her physical struggle with a suspect at the intersection along with a promise to "never back down" as sheriff.

A rare Republican primary is taking shape for this year's Erie County sheriff contest, and with it the potential for a November ballot packed with as many as five candidates.

The convoluted scenario began unfolding Wednesday morning when retired Buffalo Detective John C. Garcia said he will challenge endorsed Republican Karen Healy-Case in the June primary. Though Garcia has lined up several influential Republicans and built a substantial campaign treasury, GOP leaders remain committed to electing Healy-Case as the county's first woman sheriff.

Ted DiNoto not only officially declares his candidacy for Erie County sheriff on Thursday, he also injects an entirely new dimension into the contest by running on an independent line.

A 30-year Amherst Police Department veteran and detective lieutenant commanding the Narcotics Squad, DiNoto told The Buffalo News on Wednesday that he will no longer pursue the GOP nomination to succeed retiring Republican Timothy B. Howard. Instead, he will launch his campaign on the "Public Service Over Politics" line in a contest assuming more and more unconventional overtones.

A Buffalo Police Department veteran with a decade of private sector experience became the 11th candidate for Erie County sheriff Tuesday in a 2021 race increasingly serving as a platform for political ideologies.

Karen Healy-Case, a retired Buffalo Police lieutenant and district chief, said she will seek the Republican and Conservative endorsements to succeed retiring Republican Sheriff Timothy B. Howard.