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'What is rightfully ours': Socialist candidate India Walton upsets incumbent Democratic mayor of Buffalo

Chloe Xiang
·Reporter
Wed, June 23, 2021, 

India Walton, a nurse and progressive activist, upset four-term incumbent Byron Brown in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Buffalo, N.Y., in a bid to become the first socialist mayor of a major American city since 1960.

Walton, who would also become the first female mayor elected in Buffalo, must still win in the November general election — though the last time the city elected a Republican to lead it was during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. There is currently no Republican seeking the office.

While absentee votes have not yet been counted, the Associated Press declared Walton the winner in the race against Brown. She currently holds a lead of 7 percentage points, with 52 percent of the vote to Brown’s 45. Brown has so far refused to concede defeat, however, until “each and every vote is counted.”

India Walton in December 2020. (Lindsay DeDario/Reuters)

Walton was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party and People’s Action. Challenging Brown, who had the advantages of both incumbency and fundraising, she emphasized the need for change and new leadership.

“Folks are ready for change,” Walton said in an interview earlier this month, according to Politico. “The mayor’s been in office for 16 years, and we have not seen significant improvements in many of our communities, especially those that are primarily occupied by Black people and brown people and poor people."

In her victory speech, Walton said the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is gaining momentum in the state. “We set out to not only change Buffalo but to change the way progressive politics are viewed in upstate New York,” she said.

Walton campaigns to replace Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in December. (Lindsay DeDario/Reuters)

“Today is only the beginning,” she continued. “This is about building the infrastructure to challenge every damn seat — I’m talking about committee seats, school board, common council. All that we are doing is claiming what is rightfully ours. We are the workers, we do the work. We deserve a government that works with and for us.”

Walton has promised she will sign a tenants’ bill of rights that would institute rent control and create a tenant advocate; remove police from responding to most mental health calls and establish a new response to mental health calls; and declare Buffalo a sanctuary city that would safeguard undocumented immigrants, all in her first 100 days in office. Her long-term goals include increasing city funding for public schools and expanding neighborhood community development.

In a Wednesday interview with Buffalo’s WGRZ following her victory, Walton emphasized how her platform as a democratic socialist differs from that of a traditional Democrat. “That means we put people first, that means we prioritize the working class, the marginalized, the often unseen, unheard people over profits, corporations and developers,” she said.

She went on to emphasize that she does not consider herself a politician, and that what the people need is someone who understands “the challenges that average people face.”

The last socialist politician to serve as the mayor of a big U.S. city was Frank Zeidler, who was elected to lead Milwaukee in 1948 and served until 1960.

Walton, who used a vigorous grassroots campaign to fundraise, has also promised to incorporate the citizens of Buffalo into her mayoral term. “We are going to co-govern. We are doing this together. In the beginning, I said I’m taking all of my people with me, and that is exactly what I intend to do,” she said.

Buffalo appears to have elected a socialist mayor in big upset over 4-term incumbent

Peter Weber, Senior editor

POLITICO

Wed, June 23, 2021

Buffalo, New York John Normile/Getty Images

Democratic primary voters in Buffalo, New York, appear to have selected nurse and political newcomer India Walton over four-term incumbent Mayor Byron Brown on Tuesday, in what Politico calls "a stunning loss for one of the most prominent figures in New York's Democratic establishment." Walton, a socialist, leads Brown by 1,507 votes with all in-person votes tallied, a number about equal to the absentee ballots remaining to be counted. Brown has not conceded the race.

Assuming Walton keeps her lead, she is the presumptive mayor-elect. Buffalo hasn't picked a Republican mayor since the Kennedy administration, and Republicans didn't even field a candidate this year. 

Walton would be the first woman ever elected mayor in Buffalo as well as the first socialist, and Buffalo, with 260,000 people, is on track to be the largest city led by a socialist since Milwaukee's Frank Zeidler left office in 1960. 

Walton was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and also the Working Families Party, an influential progressive third party in New York.

Brown, a former state senator and recent chairman of the state Democratic Party, was first elected mayor in 2005. He is a close ally of embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), appearing with him at four press briefings in the past few months, Politico notes, which is "twice as many as any other elected official in the state."   

India Walton, a self-professed socialist and political newcomer, will defeat four-term incumbent Byron Brown in the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, New York, CNN projected Wednesday.

© LINDSAY DEDARIO/REUTERS India Walton poses as she campaigns in Buffalo, New York, in December 2020.

Walton, who's likely to become Buffalo's first female mayor, is a nurse and community organizer. She's been endorsed by organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America and the progressive Working Families Party.

When CNN's Brianna Keilar asked Walton earlier Wednesday if she was surprised about the outcome so far, she said, "Not really."

"We set out about a year ago to do exactly what we did," Walton said on CNN's "New Day." "We knew that this race was going to require help from outside of our local geographic area, we knew that we needed to garner national attention to challenge a 16-year heavily entrenched incumbent, and the people spoke."

Asked how she plans to implement socialism in Buffalo, Walton said her plan "is to put our resources into community into neighborhoods and govern in a deeply democratic way that the people who are governed have say over the decision making process and how resources are deployed in our community."

Questioned on how that would be different from previous leadership and initiatives, she said, "It's a complete 180."

"We have lived through decades of the trickledown theory believing that if you build it they will come and we have not built anything many things at all for the folks who have stuck out economic downturn population job loss in the Buffalo community so we are looking forward to doing things differently and I'm so excited we are ushering a new era of progressive leadership in Buffalo, New York."

Walton was a mother of three children with varying medical issues at the age of 19, and delved briefly into her past and how she came to be a nurse.

Of her personal journey, and her pathway to mayorship, she said, "Just believing that anything is possible and what you set your mind to you can do it, and we're never alone."