IT'S NOT A pROGRESSIVE PARTY:

After effectively sitting out the nominating contest and refusing to engage with or debate Walton, Brown launched a well-funded general election campaign asking voters -- this time including Independents and Republicans -- to "Write Down Byron Brown."

The campaign distributed a stamp with his name by the tens of thousands to help avoid misspellings and other clerical errors that might have tripped up his bid.

After being virtually ignored by top Democrats this spring, the race attracted national attention as a proxy battle between progressives and moderates in the fall. While some state Democratic leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul -- a Buffalo native -- stayed neutral, many big-name state Democrats had backed Walton, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who noted in his endorsement that Walton "won the Democratic primary fair and square."

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