BUFFALO, N.Y. - Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon is asking the New York State Board of Elections to issue an opinion about whether one of his opponents, state Senator Sean Ryan's campaign, is legally transferring money from his senate campaign fund to his mayoral coffers.

A lawyer representing Scanlon's camp sent a letter Tuesday asking the BOE to clarify election law as it applies to campaign limits. In the letter, attorney Laurence Laufer said it was the campaigns understanding that Ryan maintains the law allows him to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars between his political committees.

“We have found no law, legal precedent, or authoritative State Board of Elections pronouncement in support of such a sweeping evasion of the Election Law contribution limits," Laufer wrote.

The letter urged the board to conclude the transfer between two of Ryan's committees does not "nullify application of the mayoral primary contribution limits.

“Sean Ryan raised more than $450,000 from less than 60 donors [the majority of whom are located outside of Buffalo and Western New York] to aid his primary election campaign for mayor of Buffalo who have exceeded the primary contribution limits. We hope that the Board of Elections will issue a formal opinion on this matter expeditiously," Scanlon's campaign claimed.

The Ryan for Senate committee's most recent periodic campaign finance disclosure report, released in January, showed a closing balance of roughly $430,000. Ryan's mayoral campaign reiterated in a statement it believes the candidate is in full compliance with all campaign finance laws and is confident the board will confirm that.

"This is just the latest desperate distraction from the Scanlon campaign, meant to deflect attention from the acting mayor's own serious issues — including his recklessly unbalanced budget and the fact that he is the only candidate in this race with not one, but two campaign ethics violations," campaign spokesperson Emmanuel Thompson said.

Ryan's campaign has already accused Scanlon publicly of violating election laws by sending a fundraiser invitation using City Hall as a return address and promoting campaign social media accounts on the city's website. The campaign has not issued a formal complaint to the BOE or the state Attorney General's office.

Ryan and Scanlon are two of what is currently a six candidate pool for the June primary.

The other candidates are fomer Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, current Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt and community activists Michael Gainer and Anthony Tyson-Thompson.