ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It is Primary Day, and the Rochester Democratic mayoral race is nearing an end.

The incumbent, Mayor Lovely Warren, hopes to defend her seat from her challenger, City Councilmember Malik Evans.


What You Need To Know

  • Incumbent Lovely Warren hopes to defend her seat from her challenger, City Councilmember Malik Evans, in the Rochester mayoral race

  • Evans says he is focusing on the issues of trust, transparency and accountability during his campaign, saying they should be the guiding principles at city hall

  • Warren says education and violence are the things weighing most on people’s minds

  • Primary Day polls closed at 9 p.m.

According to Warren’s campaign, she has not held many fundraisers for this election, and has received most of her donations organically. However, the city’s first female mayor has a strong base as she seeks a third term.

“We're talking to our voters and asking them to continue supporting us for the work that we've been able to accomplish,” Warren said on Monday. “And to be able to accomplish much, much more in a future.”

Warren won an upset in 2013 when she beat then-incumbent Rochester mayor Tom Richards, challenging the Democratic establishment. Polls from that year showed that 63% of likely voters favored Richards compared with only 27% for Warren, but she beat the odds.

However this year, Warren is facing her own challenges.

Warren is under indictment for alleged campaign finance violations, criticism of her handling of the death of Daniel Prude, and her husband is facing federal drug charges after an investigation into an alleged drug trafficking operation led to a raid of the mayor's house. Both Warren and her husband have pleaded not guilty.

Evans says has every intention of unseating Warren. He cast his vote Tuesday morning at the Rochester Academy of Medicine. Evans says he is focusing on the issues of trust, transparency and accountability during his campaign, saying they should be the guiding principles at city hall.

He recently held regular news conferences highlighting his plans, frequently addressing the issue of guns in the city.

"We've had levels of violence that we have not seen in this community, particularly the amount of women that have been shot,” Evans said. “When I was growing up, it would be a rarity for women to be shot and killed. That seems to be becoming a regular occurrence in this city and that's really quite concerning."

Warren says education and violence are the things weighing most on people’s minds.

“With all the violence that's happening across the country, that is also of course concerning,” Warren said Monday. “But as you know, we have done a lot pre-pandemic, and we are getting back to doing what we did before, and that is getting into the faces and getting into the middle of some of these disputes.”

Even if the vote doesn't go Evans' way for the Democratic Primary, he'll still be a contender for mayor. Because he is the only candidate on the the Working Families party line, his name will still be on the ballot in November.

Primary Day polls closed at 9 p.m. Unofficial results can be expected tonight. Official results won't be known until June 30, when the Board of Elections can open and count absentee ballots.