Republican John C. Garcia was clinging to a slim lead in the race for Erie County sheriff late Tuesday, but the outcome remained too close to call. A clear winner will emerge only after a potential 19,000 absentee ballots are counted in coming days.
Garcia, the candidate endorsed by departing Sheriff Timothy B. Howard and a slew of police unions, produced strong results, even with two other Republican-leaning candidates draining him of votes. He led Democrat Kimberly Beaty by around 6,000 votes after the vast majority of ballots were counted late in the evening.
Though Beaty refused to concede, Garcia took the microphone at his gathering in Grand Island and talked like the victor. "I look forward to protecting and serving all citizens, the people of Erie County for the next four years," he said.
This much was certain: The next Erie County sheriff will be a veteran of the Buffalo Police Department. Garcia, 59, of Grand Island, retired after a career as a detective with the homicide and narcotics units. He now owns a stake in a private security firm. Beaty, 58, of Lancaster, retired as the deputy police commissioner. She is the director of public safety at Canisius College, her alma mater.
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Sheriff candidate Kim Beaty greets voters at the Moose Lodge in Hamburg, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.
The trio of candidates on the Republican side, and the heavy turnout expected in Buffalo's Democratic strongholds, were to give Democrats their best chance in decades to win the Sheriff's Office. The sheriff of upstate New York's most populous county commands a budget of more than $110 million a year and directs more than 1,000 employees. But Democrats did not have their day, at least not on Tuesday.
So the saga, which began almost a year ago with a crowded field of candidates, continues.
On the Democratic side, the party’s leadership early this year settled on Brian J. Gould, who at the time was the assistant police chief in Cheektowaga. Beaty expressed interest, withdrew when party leaders endorsed Gould, then jumped back in at the urging of a party faction.
When Beaty won the primary in June, Gould withdrew and the party united behind a candidate who could still become the first woman and the first person of color to serve as Erie County sheriff. But if the absentees follow the pattern identified in the votes cast so far, Garcia wins.
Over on Republican turf, Buffalo police retiree Karen Healy-Case was given the pole position when the Conservative Party endorsed her. Republican leaders followed suit. Garcia, encouraged to run by departing Howard and the sheriff who preceded him, State Sen. Patrick Gallivan, triggered a primary. He trounced Healy-Case, unscathed by her ads alleging he was not enough of a conservative, or a Republican, or a Donald J. Trump admirer for right-leaning voters.
Garcia's primary win split the traditional Republican-Conservative axis that has helped deliver the Sheriff’s Office to a Republican since 1997. Healy-Case remained on the Conservative line even though she eventually stopped campaigning and threw her support to Beaty.
Also on the Republican side was Ted DiNoto, a detective lieutenant with the Amherst Police Department who, while a Republican, chose to run on an independent line.
Together, DiNoto and Healy-Case took just under 10% of the votes counted Tuesday evening.
