Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and his supporters were filled with enthusiasm Tuesday night at his campaign headquarters, as nearly 60% of the votes tallied thus far are write-ins. WBFO’s Emyle Watkins was there and got an exclusive interview with Brown about how he was feeling about the initial results.
Watkins' questions have been edited for length and clarity, but we’ve kept Brown’s answers in full.
EMYLE: I know right now the results are at about 59% write-ins. How are you feeling about that?
BYRON: I feel really good about it definitely shows, as I have said all along, that more voters in the city of Buffalo wanted to vote for me then wanted to vote for Miss Walton.
EMYLE: Today, what was the attitude in the city? Did you see a lot of your supporters out there? What were they saying?
BYRON: Yeah, so a lot of supporters out there, and every single section of the city, we had hundreds of volunteers out, working all across the city. And the response that we were getting from people in different neighborhoods of the city was very positive. That led us to feel very confident going into tonight, when the votes were counted.
EMYLE: And how do you feel after seeing all of your supporters come out tonight? And how do you feel that tonight went, as far as your gathering?
BYRON: I think tonight went extremely well, was a great gathering of hundreds of supporters that show the strength and support that we have. But I talked about bringing the entire city together, getting people to understand that we are one Buffalo, we are one city, and when we work together, there's nothing that this great community, this great city can accomplish.
EMYLE: I know [Democratic nominee India] Walton hasn't conceded. How are you feeling about that?
BYRON: She should look at the numbers and recognize that many more people wanted me as mayor than wanted her as mayor. The numbers are quite clear. It is a substantial difference in write-in votes versus votes for Ms. Walton.
EMYLE: And do you feel confident that most of those writing votes are for you and not another write-in candidate?
BYRON: Oh, I absolutely feel confident that the vast majority of those write-in votes are for me.
EMYLE: Is there anything else I'm missing or anything else you wanted to add?
BYRON: No, you've been very thorough as always, Emyle.
EMYLE: Thank you so much. have a great night
BYRON: Yep, you too.
