[2] Brown was challenged in the Democratic primary by Bernard Tolbert, the former Special Agent-in-Charge of Buffalo's FBI field office,[3] the former Vice-President of Security for the National Basketball Association,[4] and a former executive with the Coca-Cola Company.

[5] Rodriguez, a 32-year-old, Dominican-born[6] Marine Corps veteran,[7] small business owner,[8] and Medaille College administrator, ran unopposed as Buffalo's first Republican mayoral candidate since 2005.

[14] The second debate was held on August 22, 2013 at St. Mary's School for the Deaf, sponsored by the Parkside Community Association and moderated by Buffalo News reporter Brian Meyer, with questions fielded directly from the audience.

[17] The candidates reiterated the points covered in the first two debates on police department staffing issues, unemployment,[18] economic development, and problems in the Buffalo Public Schools.

[19] Also in the third debate, Tolbert was put on the defensive when he was asked about a sexual harassment lawsuit that had been filed against him while he was an executive at the National Basketball Association,[18] while Brown was compelled to deny reports that his administration was rewarding campaign donors with patronage jobs as a quid pro quo[19] and described a lawsuit filed against the city by a housing development company alleging a pay-to-play policy for awarding contracts as "baseless" and "absolute nonsense".

[22] According to a Buffalo News editorial published on August 17,[20] though his fundraising prowess, his name recognition and the other benefits of incumbency, and the great progress in waterfront development that took place during his administration would have made any primary challenge difficult, Brown's especially formidable lead was described as first and foremost a product of the shortcomings of his opponent's campaign, an anemic one by a political novice whose muddled message failed to resonate with voters, and particularly with the African-American community whose loyalty to Brown Tolbert had hoped to challenge.

[26] Commenting on Brown's official nomination the day after the election, a Buffalo News editorial[27] reiterated the points made in the August 17 editorial regarding Brown's name recognition and the capital investments on the waterfront, also opining that the incumbent benefited from an electorate that largely believed Buffalo is heading in the right direction despite the problems facing the city school system, on which Tolbert tried and failed to capitalize.

The editorial also mentioned the ample airtime on local television the Brown campaign purchased with its massive "fundraising war chest" for its commercial, which prominently featured President Barack Obama's praise of the sitting mayor during a visit to the University at Buffalo on August 22, 2013.

[29] In July 2013, under the terms of New York State's electoral fusion law, Rodriguez announced plans to mount a write-in candidacy as a Conservative to challenge that party's official endorsement of Brown, much as 2005 Republican candidate Kevin Helfer did, and also to circulate petitions for a possible independent run.

[41] Tolbert, whose criticism of Brown in the months leading up to the Democratic primary largely centered on the incumbent mayor's crime-fighting efforts, received the endorsement of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association in July 2013.