Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown picked up a big endorsement from a key county democrat. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz appeared with Brown in front of Kleinhans Music Hall Monday morning to endorse Brown's re-election campaign.
Poloncarz selected the Kleinhans location to point to the various partnerships between the county and city.
The city owns the building and the county provides funding to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
"So this is a perfect example of the partnership that we have between Erie County and city of Buffalo," said Poloncarz.
Poloncarz also pointed to the creation of the Buffalo and Erie Niagara Land Bank Corporation to deal with distressed properties.
"I'm pleased to announce today, as I noted, that not only am I here to endorse Mayor Brown, but as a city of Buffalo resident I will be voting for him this fall for another term as mayor of the city of Buffalo," said Poloncarz.
Brown said he is "honored" to receive the support.
"This is a very big and important endorsement. The county executive is the highest ranking elected official in Erie County. I am honored to earn his endorsement," said Brown.
The support adds to the two-time incumbent's already sizable advantage over fellow Democrat Bernie Tolbert for this September's primary. WBFO News asked Poloncarz if he gave any consideration to endorsing Tolbert.
"Byron has done a strong job, and truthfully I like Bernie personally, but I don't think he's got a cohesive message of why he wants to be mayor.
Tolbert recently received a major union endorsement from the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association.
Republican opponent Sergio Rodriguez has gathered the official endorsement from the city of Buffalo Republican committee to face off against the primary winner in November. But Rodriguez has not received the endorsement from the Erie County Republican Party.
You will be able to hear from all three candidates in a live mayoral debate, Tuesday, August 27th at 8 p.m. right here on your NPR station -- WBFO.