Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York, at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, on the United States border with Canada. With a population of 278,349 according to the 2020 census, Buffalo is the largest city in Western New York and the 78th largest city in the United States. Buffalo and the city of Niagara Falls together make up the two-county Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had an estimated population of 1.2 million in 2020, making it the 49th-largest MSA in the United States.
Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamestown is the largest city in the county. Nearby Chautauqua Lake is a freshwater resource used by fishermen, boaters, and naturalists.
William George Fargo was a pioneer American expressman who helped found the modern-day financial firms of American Express Company and Wells Fargo with his business partner, Henry Wells. He was also the 27th Mayor of Buffalo, serving from 1862 until 1866 during the U.S. Civil War.
Byron William Brown II is an American politician who is the current mayor of Buffalo, New York. He has served as Buffalo's 62nd mayor since January 2006, the city's first African-American mayor and longest-serving mayor. He previously served Western New York as a member of the New York State Senate and Buffalo Common Council. He is the first African-American politician elected to the New York State Senate to represent a district outside New York City and the first member of any minority race to represent a majority-white New York State Senate district.
Joseph J. Kelly was an Irish-American attorney and politician serving as mayor of Buffalo, New York. He held the office from 1942 to 1945.
The Buffalo Common Council is the legislative branch of the city of Buffalo, New York government. It is a representative assembly, with one elected member from each of nine districts: Niagara, Delaware, Masten, Ellicott, Lovejoy, Fillmore, North, University, and South. In the past, the Common Council also had as many as five at-large members and a Council President who were elected citywide. Each council seat is elected for a four-year term, with elections occurring during off-years, between mid-term elections and presidential elections.
William Findlay Rogers was an American politician who served one term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York from 1883 to 1885.
Solomon George Haven was a U.S. Representative from New York and Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving in 1846–1847.
Orlando Allen (1803–1874) was a member of the New York State Assembly and the 18th mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York. Allen began his political career as city treasurer, followed by two separate terms as Second Ward Alderman. He served an extended single term as mayor after being appointed in January 1848. He was elected to a full term in March of that year, and served until the term expired in 1849, when he declined to run for a second term. He was a member of the State Assembly in 1850 and 1851. He later served on the Buffalo Board of Supervisors, representing the Second Ward in 1856–1857, before winning one final term in the State Assembly in 1860. He ran for most of his offices as a Whig, however, after the collapse of that party, he served his final term in the Assembly as a Republican.
Ebenezer Johnson (1786–1849) was an American businessman and politician. He served as the first mayor of Buffalo, New York from May 1832 – March 1833 and 1834–1835.
Samuel Wilkeson was a merchant, politician, and judge who served as mayor of Buffalo, New York.
James Wadsworth was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving 1851–1852.
Eli Cook (1814–1865) was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving in 1853 and from 1854 to 1855. He was born in Palatine Bridge, New York on January 23, 1814. He took up law in 1830, passed the bar exam, and in 1837 he practiced in Tennessee and Mississippi with rebel General Simon B. Buckner. In 1838, he moved to Buffalo where he became one of the leading criminal lawyers. He married around 1838, but his wife died soon after; he re-married in 1843, to Sarah L. He was appointed city attorney in 1845, and again in 1851.
Alexander Brush was a Scottish Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving 1870–1873 and 1880–1881.
Lewis P. Dayton was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving from 1874 to 1875.
Harmon Sydney Cutting was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving from December 1882 to January 1883, in the aftermath after the resignation of Grover Cleveland.
Conrad Diehl (1843–1918) was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving from 1898 to 1901. He was born in Buffalo on July 17, 1843. He graduated from the University of Buffalo with a medical degree in 1866. On May 5, 1869, he married Caroline Trautmann in New York City; she died in 1888 and he remarried in 1892 to Lois Masten, head nurse at Buffalo General Hospital. From 1870 to 1878, he was surgeon and major of the 65th Regiment, of the New York National Guard. From 1874 on, he was either attending or consulting physician at Buffalo General Hospital.
George Sturgess Buck (1875–1931) was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving 1918–1922. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 10, 1875, and moved to Buffalo the following year. He graduated from Buffalo's Central High School in 1892, and received a B. A. from Yale University in 1896. He graduated from the Buffalo Law School in 1898, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He married Ellen Louise Hussey on October 6, 1903.
The 2001 Buffalo Mayoral election took place on November 6, 2001. Incumbent Anthony M. Masiello, a Democrat, easily trounced his sole opponent in the primary, going on to win a third term with no serious opposition in the general election. Buffalo's 2001 mayoral election was notable for its uncharacteristic quietness, despite pressing issues such as allegations of environmental contamination in the Hickory Woods neighborhood of South Buffalo and chronic poverty and urban blight. This was speculated as being due to reticence on the part of would-be candidates to "challenge a powerful and well-liked mayor like Masiello", especially one with a campaign fund in excess of $1 million. It was also only the second time in history when the Democrats and Republicans endorsed the same candidate for mayor of Buffalo, a phenomenon made possible by New York State's electoral fusion law.
The 2021 Buffalo mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Democratic Mayor Byron Brown won his fifth term in office as a write-in candidate. Brown's victory marked the first time since 1985 that Buffalo did not elect the Democratic nominee for mayor.
