User:Gshall2/India Walton

Activism[edit]
Walton became active in politics at the age of twelve when she protested Rockefeller Drug Laws with her mother as part of the activist group Families Against Mandatory Minimums. While working as a nurse, she served as a representative for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. In 2016, after participating in meetings held by the Community First Alliance, a local organization focused on advocacy for residents in the majority-Black Fruit Belt neighborhood, she held a protest against parking practices in the neighborhood. She left her nursing career after being hired by Open Buffalo as a community organizer with a focus on criminal justice and policing reforms. In 2017, she became executive director of Fruit Belt Community Land Trust.

She was also a leader in local Black Lives Matter protests, and advocated for Mayor Byron Brown to sign Cariol's Law. She has said the shoving of Martin Gugino by a Buffalo police officer was one of her inspirations to run for political office.

Mayoral campaign[edit]
Walton announced her campaign for the mayoralty of Buffalo in the 2021 election on December 13, 2020. During the primary campaign, Byron Brown, who had served as mayor for four terms, refused to debate Walton. The Working Families Party endorsed and supported Walton during her campaign, after having previously endorsed Brown in his past campaigns. She was also endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the Buffalo Teachers Federation, a union with 3800 members. Walton defeated Brown and Le'Candice Durham in the primary election on June 22, 2021, 52 to 45 percent. After her primary win, The Buffalo News reported, "observers saw Walton's win as yet another signal that a dynamic candidate can knock off a complacent incumbent anytime, anywhere – which might just encourage more challengers to take on long-serving elected officials elsewhere in New York and beyond."

During the course of her campaign, Walton was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams, and supported by Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She was also endorsed by the Erie County Democratic Committee. Her campaign raised $150,000 compared to Brown, who raised over $500,000 and received support from the Police Benevolent Association and Republicans. On October 23, 2021, CNN reported the mayoral election "escalated over the summer and into the fall as a proxy fight between the city and state's growing progressive movement and more business-friendly, establishment Democrats determined to block Walton's ascent".

Walton is a democratic socialist, and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. In an interview with Rolling Stone, published in July 2021, she stated, "It’s my responsibility to explain to folks that being a democratic socialist does not mean that I’m interested in seizing people’s private property." During a mayoral election debate in late October 2021, in response to Brown stating, "I don’t see Ms. Walton as a Democrat," she replied, "I won the Democratic primary. Secondly, I am a self-avowed democratic socialist. The first word in that is 'Democrat.'"

If elected in the general election, she would have been the first socialist mayor of a large city since Frank Zeidler left office as mayor of Milwaukee in 1960, and she would have been the first socialist mayor in New York since John H. Gibbons was elected mayor of Lackawanna in 1919. She would have also been the first woman and first Black woman to serve as mayor of Buffalo.

After his primary election defeat to Walton, Brown announced a write-in campaign, after his lawsuit that sought to add his name to the ballot was unsuccessful. On November 3, 2021, Walton publicly acknowledged that she did not appear to be the winner of the election, while votes were still being counted, but did not officially concede. According to The Buffalo News on November 6, 2021, despite her apparent loss, "Walton may have awakened a potent progressive force in Buffalo politics." On November 8, 2021, Politico reported she joined advocacy for Brown to be removed from his position in the Democratic National Committee. Walton received a letter of support from Barack Obama following her election loss. In an interview with WGRZ, Walton stated that Obama's letter to her, "sort of put the final stamp of approval that I was doing the right thing."

Working Families Party
Following the mayoral election, the Working Families Party announced Walton's new role with them as a Senior Advisor for Special Projects. In an article by Spectrum News, Walton spoke about the role, stating, "I’m so excited to work with the WFP to build power for the multiracial working class and elect a new generation of progressive leaders in this state."