When big stories are expected, local television news departments almost always assign their top anchor teams on the nights that occur.
It didn’t happen on primary Tuesday, which might have been because it wasn’t supposed to be a big story night.
Mayor Byron Brown was expected to win over challengers India B. Walton and Le’Candice M. Durham in the Democratic primary.
But on the historic night in which Walton won the primary in a huge upset, WGRZ-TV anchor Maryalice Demler was teamed with Michael Wooten rather than Scott Levin.
WIVB-TV anchor Don Postles was teamed with Melanie Orlins rather than Jacquie Walker.
And WKBW-TV anchor Jeff Russo went solo rather than be joined by co-anchor Ashley Rowe.
The assignments were an indication of how big an upset Walton’s primary victory was over a four-term mayor.
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The words “stunning,” “historic,” “shocking” and “disbelief” were tossed around on all three stations.
I imagine Levin, Walker and Rowe might have wished they had been involved in what Buffalo News political reporter Robert J. McCarthy wrote "may rank as the most historic upset in the city's political history."
“This is the shock of the night,” said WGRZ reporter Claudine Ewing at Brown headquarters, adding you could see the “shock” and “disbelief” on the faces of Brown supporters. “They did not expect this. They did not see it coming.”
All three stations carried Walton’s 10-minute victory speech in its entirety, which was a good call since so many viewers likely didn’t know that much about her and might not have ever heard her talk.
WGRZ was the only station to turn to political analysts to put Walton’s victory in perspective. Wooten’s political expertise was an asset, as he noted Walton was getting attention nationally as the first socialist mayor in a big city in about 60 years.
Demler smartly asked Democratic analyst Ken Kruly if Brown had any other alternatives to run in November, including a write-in campaign. He didn’t address the write-in possibility but said “all time periods have passed” to run on another party line.
Since only about 20,000 people voted for mayor in the Democratic primary, the idea of a write-in campaign doesn’t seem that far-fetched, especially if Brown had the support of the business community.
Wooten editorialized, noting “it was kind of a sad state of affairs that so few people have voted.”
On Wednesday morning’s “Daybreak,” WGRZ Melissa Holmes said Brown “still could attempt” a write-in campaign. It might seem to be an extreme long shot, but then again so was Walton’s victory.
Now on to more highs and lows of the coverage.
Seriously? Naturally, Demler had to add her 2 cents and covered all the angles in one sentence. She speculated “perhaps he didn’t take her seriously or perhaps he did … It is stunning that someone virtually unknown a year ago all of a sudden defeats a four-term mayor.”
Best Sound Bite: In a post-speech interview with WGRZ’s Leanne Stuck, Walton said Brown “definitely could have done more damage to me … I think he ran a really clean race.” Brown and his strategists must be second-guessing themselves now.
My Least Favorite Moment: WIVB reporter Marlee Tuskes was in the middle of the Walton crowd and seemed more excited than the candidate, who was extraordinarily calm as her supporters celebrated. Noting Walton was running back and forth a number of times in the room, Tuskes said: “I think my favorite moment was when she passed by running and saying, ‘I need to call my mom.’ ” That cheerleading comment was my least favorite moment of the coverage.
India Walton calls her mother on the night of the elections to tell her she won the Democratic primary June 22, 2021.
You Do the Math: WIVB reporter Chris Horvatits noted that Brown was behind by 1,540 votes and there were 1,536 absentee ballots returned as of Tuesday. “It does not appear to be enough to make up this deficit,” said Horvatitis. Hard to argue since there were four fewer ballots returned than Brown needed to go ahead. However, more ballots could have arrived Tuesday.
The Food Trucks Make the Call: At Brown headquarters, WKBW senior reporter Eileen Buckley noted, “it is anything but a celebration here tonight. Even the food trucks are pulling out.”
Who is India Walton? It would have been nice if the stations gave more of Walton’s biography than just calling her a progressive and a community activist. Kruly, who called himself a “fairly close observer of politics,” conceded he didn’t know what her positions are, adding “they are really kind of vague.”
How Does It Feel? I had to laugh when WGRZ’s Stuck and WIVB’s Tuskes both opened their post-speech questioning of Walton by asking the same question usually asked of athletes after victories: “How are you feeling?” However, Tuskes later got my favorite answer from a different softball question. She asked Walton if growing up she ever expected to have the title of being the first female mayor in the City of Buffalo. “I kind of did,” said Walton. She might have been the only one.
