Former North Tonawanda police chief running for mayor

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The former North Tonawanda police chief is running for mayor.

Tom Krantz, who spent over 30 years with the North Tonawanda Police Department, the last 21 months of which as chief, announced his candidacy on Wednesday.

He joined the department in 1991 and worked his way up through the ranks before being promoted to chief in June 2020. He retired in March 2022 to give way to current chief Keith Glass.

He said in his announcement that he is running on safe neighborhoods, clean streets, and creating development opportunities that can make the city an attraction to businesses and families, while keeping taxes down.

“No one side is always right, and no one side is always wrong. We cannot continue with this ‘us vs. them’ mentality,” Krantz said in a news release. “I will prioritize collaboration and work to unite our city for the greater good.”

Incumbent mayor Austin Tylec announced last week that he will run for re-election. He was first elected as mayor in 2021.

Tylec has been under fire as of late for sending two police officers to a business in the city to question an employee about a fake Facebook account critical of the mayor. He later apologized.

The general election is on Nov. 4.

Your Local Election Headquarters

Former North Tonawanda police chief running for mayor

April Baskin sworn in as state senator for 63rd district

Patrick Chludzinski sworn in as assemblyman for 143rd district

Community organizer whose brother died in blizzard running for mayor

Mayoral candidate James McLeod pushing work with youth as part of bid

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.