BUFFALO, N.Y. — After City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown was defeated in this week's Democratic primary, there has been no word from his campaign about whether he will launch a write-in campaign in the general election.
2 On your Side on Thursday asked Mayor Brown outside Sahlen Field if he plans to do just that, but he did not respond.
A spokesperson for Brown referred to remarks he made Tuesday night about making sure every vote is counted.
Political experts have said write-in campaigns are notoriously unsuccessful, because the prospective candidate's name is not on the ballot and the voters would need to write down the candidate's name.
Also, what happens if the voter misspells the candidate's name? Erie County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Ralph Mohr said as long as it's identifiable, it's acceptable.
"In the instance of the City of Buffalo and the mayor, for instance, which is the one most asked about, the name Brown, the name Byron, B Brown, would all be acceptable versions of it," Mohr said. "If there is a minor misspelling of the name but still identifiable to the candidate, that would be acceptable."
Jacob Nieheisel, an associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo, said he believes Brown would have the resources to do a write-in campaign if he chooses to.
"Lot of name recognition, deep political networks, resources at his disposal, a long standing in the way of the political land in terms of where your supporters are," he said. "So all of those things may play in the mayor's favor if he were to wage a write-in campaign in the general."
There is a precedent. In 2010, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski lost the Alaska Republican primary and ran as a write-in during the general election and won.