BUFFALO, N.Y. — Senator Tim Kennedy won the Democratic primary for the 63rd State Senate District.

The Buffalo native beat challenger Shaqurah Zachery by more than 50 percent.

Kennedy's district covers Buffalo, Lackawanna and Cheektowaga.

He's been in office since 2011 and says the best is yet to come.

Kennedy was greeted by a room filled with enthusiastic supporters, including Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown as he celebrated.

With a majority of precincts reporting, Kennedy had 77 percent of the vote, compared to Zachery’s 23 percent.

“I can tell you, no one works harder or fights better than Tim Kennedy to bring resources home to this community,” Brown said. “He is a great family man, he is a brilliant legislator and he is one of the champions of our community.”

"We are going to send a message tonight from Buffalo to Albany and through New York State to Washington that we are going to stand up and we are going to continue to fight for the working class,” Kennedy said. “We are going to continue to stand up and fight for those who work so hard to make ends meet. I come from humble beginnings  — my mother, a nurse who worked three jobs, my father who worked odd jobs ... made his way all the way to the top."

Zachery said she’s proud of the race she ran.

“When you have money to burn and when you have the ability to put those sorts of resources into a campaign, there’s going to be some disparity, that’s by default, but I believe in what we did. I believe strongly in what we did,” she said.

Zachery says she hopes that change still comes to the 63rd State Senate District despite Kennedy's victory.