This year’s Rochester mayoral election is unique — there will be no Republican candidate on the ballot. Instead, Democratic candidate and incumbent Malik Evans will be facing Conservative candidate Louis Sabo.
The development occurred due to none of the Republican candidates obtaining the 537 signatures required to run. Thus, they instead chose to run under the Conservative Party, which requires only 44 signatures. Louis Sabo emerged as the Conservative candidate.
Meanwhile, Malik Evans won the Democratic primary against challengers Mary Lupien and Shashi Sinha with 57% of the vote. According to the Rochester Beacon, only about 20% of registered Democrats went to the polls during this election, a 33% decrease from 2021.
As the incumbent, Malik Evans holds the advantage. Additionally, according to the Monroe County Board of Elections, the ratio of registered Democrats to registered Republicans in Monroe County is about 10:1, tilting the odds strongly in Evans’ favor.
One of the big things for Evans’ platform is public safety. During this race, he’s cited many examples of this from his latest holding of the office, including his program to replace every lead pipe in the city by 2030, the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention and his emphasis on economic empowerment for voters.
Sabo, on the other hand, has outlined five specific goals — family affordability, business friendliness, lower crime, community spaces and education. He is also a 1987 RIT alumnus with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photographic Illustration.
The election comes at a time when many across Rochester feel concern as Rochester’s status as a sanctuary city comes under fire from ICE and President Donald Trump’s administration. Rochester has been a sanctuary city since a policy was passed in 1986 that kept undocumented immigrants from being prosecuted. This policy was unanimously reaffirmed by the Rochester City Council in 2017, during President Trump’s previous time in office and as a response to immigration crackdowns at the time. Even more recently, in August of this year, a new law was passed that expanded the sanctuary city law and added protections for LGBTQ+ citizens. President Trump is now suing the Rochester administration — including Mayor Evans — over these policies.
Evans stated firmly that he is committed to keeping Rochester a sanctuary city. “It has stood the test of time since 1986,” he said.
Sabo took a similar stance, explaining that special immigration visas are legitimate and should be honored; however, he also said that ICE is welcome to come look for anyone who is “illegal and has been committing crimes.”
While Sabo and Evans differ in their political views, both candidates have outlined their plans to improve Rochester. More information on Lois Sabo’s platform can be found in his website at https://electsabo.com/, while more about Malik Evans’ platform is available on the City of Rochester website. The election will take place on Nov. 4, 2025, and the winning candidate will officially take office on Jan. 1, 2026.
