As Buffalo Common Council races go, the 2012 Democratic primary features all the standard ingredients: name calling, character accusations and liberal use of the dreaded “career politician” phrase.

But underneath it all lurks a shadow contest to determine whether the next Council continues a narrow majority frequently opposing Mayor Byron W. Brown, or if newcomers foster friendlier relations with the executive branch.

Even one victorious Brown ally could alter the current 5-4 anti-mayor majority in Council Chambers, while other combinations may produce strong margins for either Brown or his opponents. But Council incumbents and mayoral allies alike recognize what is at stake when primary voters go to the polls on Tuesday.

“It’s always an issue when you have such a slim majority,” said Council President David A. Franczyk, leader of the anti-Brown faction who calls an independent legislative branch “critical.”

“If you look at the landscape, our folks are the ones under siege,” said Deputy Mayor Steven M. Casey, Brown’s political point man.

“We try to be nice, and they attack us.”

Primary contests, tantamount to the general election in heavily Democratic Buffalo, will be decided in four districts — Fillmore, University, North and Masten. All of the campaigns are grass-roots affairs built around literature, signs and door-to-door visits.

Three candidates—Samuel A. Herbert in Fillmore, DeMario J. Badger in Masten and Rochelle A. Ricchiazzi in University— have not filed the required campaign financial disclosure statements with the state Board of Elections. But whether all are playing by the rules, the contests are competitive and they are expected to continue at a torrid pace through the weekend.

University

The three-way race featuring incumbent Bonnie E. Russell, Pamela D. Cahill and Ricchiazzi may rank as the city’s most intense. Russell is the wife of City Judge Robert T. Russell Jr., who is also on the ballot on Tuesday, making the primary season a busy one for the couple.

For the Council member, first elected in 2003, another term means continued emphasis on attracting and encouraging business. She points to new retail establishments along Bailey and Hertel avenues that underscore efforts to revitalize the city.

Russell said she helped Budwey’s supermarket become established on Kenmore Avenue, and believes the cordial relationship she enjoys with Brown has not hurt any of those efforts in the least.

“As long as the help continues,” she said, “I’ll take it from anyone who will give it.”

Russell, 52, calls Cahill a “headquarters” candidate who is targeting a mayoral ally. She criticizes Cahill for resigning in the middle of her term as a member of the Board of Education, for missing local block club meetings, and for her late arrival in district affairs.

Cahill, 53, says her candidacy stems from a frequent questions she receives while campaigning door-to-door: What has Russell done?

“For her, it’s simply a source of income,” Cahill said. “I’m afraid that’s what happens with a lot of people in government.”

Cahill questions how block club meetings became a requirement for Council service and calls some block club agendas part of the “game.”

“If you’re not part of a block club, you don’t get the services you’re asking for,” she said.

As for her relationship with Brown, she said she avoids being in anybody’s “clique,” and is noncommittal on the mayor’s record.

The race also features Ricchiazzi, a 19-year-old Niagara University student concerned about crime in the district, which she says has touched many of her friends and acquaintances.

“I wonder if either of my opponents has ever had a plan to fight crime,” she said. “I’ll make it my number one issue.”

Fillmore

The big matchup anticipated as the premier Council primary of 2012 between Council President David A. Franczyk and former Democratic Elections Commissioner Laurence F. Adamczyk never materialized when the state Court of Appeals ruled Adamczyk off the ballot in August. But Herbert, who has run for local office seven previous times, is making noise.

A retired lab technician at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Herbert is critical of Franczyk’s position as Brown’s most vocal critic in Council Chambers.

“If a Council member is obstructionist against the mayor just on general principles, that’s unacceptable,” he said. “I would not be obstructionist toward Mayor Brown, but I would be the person who holds him accountable.”

Herbert, 62, has also made his opponent’s quarter-century tenure on the Council a main point of his campaign, claiming that for all of Franczyk’s years on the Council, mothers pushing baby carriages down Bailey Avenue or Genesee Street must still use the street because sidewalks are in such disrepair.

Franczyk, meanwhile, says he would have stepped aside long ago if a qualified candidate emerged. But as his feud with the mayor intensifies, he insists his efforts are needed more than ever to keep the Council independent.

“Respect is a goal worth fighting for,” he said.

The Council president, 54, has proven relentless in his criticism of Herbert, even distributing fliers that call Herbert a “life-long cheat” and outline his financial difficulties and unpaid bills.

Should underdog Herbert win Tuesday’s Democratic contest, the fate of the seat would be decided on Nov. 8 since Franczyk is also running on the Republican, Conservative and Working Families lines.

North

An unusual matchup pits incumbent Joseph Golombek Jr. against newcomer Kenneth J. Phillips, a self-employed contractor who until recently was unaffiliated with any party, but was authorized by anti-Brown Democrats to run on their line.

“I’m just tired of sitting back and waiting on the promises,” Phillips said, adding he is equally tired of his opponent “butting heads with everyone.”

Phillips, 40, is a volunteer hockey coach who seeks a city crackdown on absentee homeowners who let vacant properties deteriorate while locals receive court summonses.

Golombek’s consistent support for the mayor has resulted in little for the district, Phillips said.

Golombek, 46, said the whole scenario of being challenged by an unaffiliated voter stems from party factions afraid he might again run for the Assembly after falling short by just over 200 votes in his 2010 challenge to former Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo. He also defends his friendly relationship with Brown, and casts himself in the mold of former Council members like Eugene M. Fahey (now an Appellate Division justice) who often defied party bosses.

Golombek points to a long record of cooperating with block clubs, and starting organizations like the Good Neighbor Planning Alliance that pairs developers with community stakeholders.

Golombek claims his close contacts throughout the district produce positive results, as when the Boys and Girls Club housed at All Saints Catholic Church was looking for a new home. He got the organization situated at Nazareth Lutheran.

He noted that he is scheduled for induction soon into the club’s Hall of Fame as a result of his community involvement.

“They don’t induct you into that for nothing,” he said.

Masten

Council Member Demone A. Smith has held the Masten seat for only one term, but he is the object of a spirited challenge by DeMario J. Badger, a 30-year-old retail businessman who is the son of one of the city’s best known clergymen — Bishop Michael A. Badger, senior pastor of Bethesda World Harvest International Church.

Badger wonders why deteriorating conditions exist on Jefferson and Fillmore avenues, in the Central Park area, and in Martin Luther King Park — slated for a $1 million upgrade with contributions from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York.

“Sure there are big plans [for the park], but some of these big plans take 10 years,” Badger said.

The challenger does not concentrate on his opponent’s close relationship with Brown, whom he credits with a B grade as mayor. But he looks at city investment along Elmwood and Hertel avenues as well as the waterfront and concludes Masten has been left behind.

Badger said he makes no excuses for failing to submit campaign finance reports as required, adding only that most of the money spent so far has come from his own pocket.

Smith, 38, insists Badger brings little to the campaign other than the name recognition of his father. “We know your daddy, but we don’t know you,” Smith said.

The Council member pointed to highlights like a program that will repair two-thirds of the district’s sidewalks by 2015, funding for youth programs, federal stimulus money to rebuild the pedestrian bridge over the Kensington Expressway, and 49 public or private development projects under way in the district.

Smith said he will concentrate in a second term on stopping foreclosures because of water bills, and seeking state legislation to make it easier for neighbors to assume ownership of vacant lots.

rmccarthy@buffnews.comnull