South Council Member Michael P. “Mickey” Kearns received key endorsements Wednesday in his bid to replace Byron W. Brown as mayor of Buffalo.

During the opening of his Niagara Street campaign headquarters, Kearns received the backing of Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, and Delaware and Niagara Council Members Michael J. LoCurto and David A. Rivera, respectively.

“Mickey Kearns represents the type of change we need,” Hoyt said outside the campaign headquarters. “He won’t let politics get in the way of this great city.”

Hoyt called Kearns a “visionary leader” who can place good policy before politics.

“There is a need for new ideas, a growing economy, stabilizing of the community and equal opportunities,” the assemblyman said.

Also endorsing Kearns was Chito Olivencia, president of the Latino group Nosotros.

“We’re not being paid attention to, not being respected,“ said Olivencia, a Brown supporter during the last mayoral election.

LoCurto said that in a Kearns administration, city residents won’t be treated as outsiders.

“People are going to know Kearns up close and personal” LoCurto said. “There will be a welcome mat outside of the mayor’s office — not an armed guard.”

The candidate also offered a vision for change.

“In order for the city to change, we need to change the leaders in the city,” he said. “It’s the only way to move forward.”

Kearns and Brown, both Democrats, dominate a field of mayoral hopefuls that includes community activist Samuel A. Herbert, also a Democrat.