Kim Beaty, the law enforcement veteran who is trying to become the first Democrat elected as Erie County sheriff in nearly three decades, on Saturday announced on social media that she has received the endorsement of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The hot contest for Buffalo mayor could bring out the city’s concentration of more than 100,000 Democratic voters in November, which bodes well for sheriff candidate Kimberly Beaty.
Beaty's campaign Twitter account made the announcement shortly after noon Saturday. The campaign team for Hochul, who has remained on the sidelines in the heated Buffalo mayor's race, did not respond to an inquiry seeking comment.
Beaty, the Canisius College public safety director, is running against three candidates on the Conservative/Republican side:Â Republican nominee John C. Garcia is a retired Buffalo police detective endorsed by Sheriff Timothy B. Howard and State Sen. Patrick Gallivan, a two-term former sheriff; Ted DiNoto, a detective lieutenant with the Amherst police, is a Republican who chose to run as an independent; Conservative nominee Karen Healy-Case works in private security after a career with the Buffalo police.Â
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"I decided to step aside because I had no chance of winning the election on a minor party line and I don't want to be a distraction to the process," Healy-Case said.
Healy-Case, who lost the Republican party nomination to Garcia in the June 22 primary, suspended her campaign Oct. 12 and threw her support to Beaty. Healy-Case, however, is unable to take her name off the ballot, which could take away votes from Garcia.
Beaty, who rose from a patrol officer to deputy commissioner before retiring from the Buffalo Police Department after 32 years, represents the Democratic Party's best chance in decades to win the Erie County sheriff's race. The last Democrat elected Erie County sheriff was Thomas F. Higgins, who won a third term in 1993.
She was appointed Canisius' public safety director in 2018.
Proud to receive the endorsement of WNY's own @GovKathyHochul!"We need to elect her, I want you to elect her, and I look forward to being at her inauguration on January 1st. She is the most qualified candidate to lead the Sheriff's Office after 16 years of mismanagement." pic.twitter.com/KEH84i5kC0
— Kimberly Beaty for Sheriff (@ForBeaty) October 30, 2021
