Buffalo mayoral election, 2005
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| Turnout | 24.97% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2005 election for Mayor of Buffalo, New York took place on November 8, 2005. After incumbent Anthony M. Masiello, a Democrat, announced on April 29, 2005 that he would not seek a fourth term as mayor, a field of several Democratic candidates emerged, from which New York State Senator Byron Brown emerged victorious in the primary election. In the general election, Brown went on to defeat Republican challenger Kevin Helfer, former member of the Buffalo Common Council for the University District, as well as two minor-party candidates. Buffalo's 2005 mayoral election is notable as the first in the city to be won by an African-American candidate.
In addition to Brown, candidates for the Democratic nomination for Mayor in 2005 included Brown's predecessor as State Senator for the 57th District, Al Coppola, attorney and government reform advocate Kevin Gaughan, restaurateur Steven Calvaneso, neighborhood activist and perennial candidate Judith Einach, and Erie County Democratic Committee member Darnell Jackson. Coppola dropped out of the race early, while the latter two hopefuls were removed from the ballot in August 2005 by the Erie County Board of Elections due to petition irregularities, leading to a three-way contest between Brown, Gaughan and Calvaneso for the Democratic nomination.
The Democratic primary election was held on September 13, 2005. Brown placed first in the polls with 16,900 votes cast, or 60.6% of the total, winning the Democratic nomination. In second place was Gaughan with 9,264 votes (34.5%), and Calvaneso placed third with 1,362 votes (4.9%).
Despite the fact that Brown was cross-endorsed by the Erie County Conservative Party under the terms of New York State's electoral fusion law, Republican candidate Kevin Helfer mounted an unprecedented write-in campaign in the Conservative primary election on September 13, 2005 that was described as "crucial" for his hopes to win the general election.
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