According to this newspaper story, Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo, New York, will sue to overturn the May petition deadline for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. The 2019 legislature changed that deadline; previously it had been in August. In fact, the New York independent candidate petition deadline had always been in October, September, or August, throughout the entire period 1890 through 2019. UPDATE: this story says he is petitioning, and he will submit his signatures on August 17, which would have been the deadline if the 2019 bill had not changed the deadline. FURTHER UPDATE: his partisan label will be “Buffalo Party.” See this story.

The first newspaper story erroneously says the change in the petition deadline was made in 2020. Actually it was made in early 2019, and had nothing to do with the health crisis. Nor was it part of the 2020 change that increased the statewide petition and stiffened the definition of a qualified party. Thanks to Joe Burns for the link.