| Defeating Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown should be a priority for all progressives in Buffalo and for progressives in New York. The reason? His ties to Steve Pigeon, which have been well documented.
The challenger to Brown is Mickey Kearns, a Buffalo Common Councilmember who started out as a long-shot to win because of Brown's perceived strong incumbent advantage.
That advantage has, apparently, evaporated.
In a poll conducted by SurveyUSA for WGRZ, Brown and Kearns are running neck and neck.
According to our scientific 2 On Your Side and SurveyUSA poll, Brown has 48% of the vote, Kearns has 47%, and 5% are undecided.
There is a 4.2% margin of error.
580 likely voters in the City of Buffalo were part of the telephone survey last Wednesday and Thursday.
When you breakdown the numbers and look at the demographics, Brown leads among women 51% to Kearns' 43%. Among men, however, Kearns leads Brown 52% to 44%.
The divide is even deeper among race. Brown leads Kearns 86% to 13% among black voters. While Kearns leads among white voters 64% to 29%.
Two key issues also split voters. When asked about creating jobs in Buffalo, 56% select Brown over 39% for Kearns. But on the controversial topic of One Sunset 86% choose Kearns over 12% for Brown.
If you asked anyone in Buffalo a few months ago whether or not this would be a race, they probably would have said no. While Kearns was a known opponent, he didn't have a lot of traction. He isn't a bad option, but Brown is a force in Buffalo politics. That put Kearns in a tough spot.
With all of the problems and revelations involving Brown lately, it is hard for Brown to hold on to that strong advantage he had not so long ago. This is a race and everyone knows it. |
