BUFFALO (WBEN) - It's been 133 days since India Walton pulled off one of the more shocking political upsets ever seen in the State of New York, and certainly in the City of Buffalo, as she defeated four-term incumbent Byron Brown in the city's Democratic primary for mayor.
The victory was so unexpected that Walton, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, garnered significant national attention.
"I received a call from Congresswoman AOC this evening, and I'm just excited to be a part of this movement that is ushering progressive politics into Buffalo," said Walton on primary night.
India Walton, a socialist candidate, is poised to beat Buffalo's incumbent Democratic mayor. The primary upset would upend the political landscape in New York's second-biggest city and make her its first female mayor. https://t.co/93GVsmdH8r
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 23, 2021
"It's been 16 years, and though we've seen progress in certain areas, there are a lot of people, the majority of us, have not enjoyed in what's being called 'the Renaissance,'" Walton continued. "I think that now is a time where people are standing up and saying, 'We're not going to take this lying down.' The status quo is not enough, and people just want change."
But of course, primary night wasn't the end of what would turn out to be one of the most interesting and highly anticipated local races in recent memory.
A few days after the June 22 primary, Brown, really to nobody's surprise, announced that he'd be running a write-in campaign for mayor, as his name would not appear on the ballot.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wben/news/local/brown-enters-november-race-as-write-in-candidate" headline=""There is no Mayor-Elect!" Brown enters November mayoral race as write-in candidate" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63624260"]"I have stayed out of the public spotlight for a few days because I wanted to hear from the people of Buffalo, and the people of Buffalo are speaking loudly and clearly," said Brown on June 28, as he's seeking an unprecedented fifth term as mayor. "I have literally heard from thousands of residents of Buffalo who have said to me that they want me to continue my campaign for re-election...as a write-in candidate."
Although Brown announced his write-in candidacy, he and his legal counsel still believed there was a way to get his name on the ballot, and they almost succeeded.
His efforts to qualify for the Independent Buffalo Party line initially fell short when the Erie County Board of Elections rejected a nominating petition because it was submitted after a state-imposed deadline.
U.S. District Judge John Sinatra, who is the brother of prominent Buffalo developer and Brown donor, Nick Sinatra, issued an order preventing the Board of Elections from enforcing the deadline and demanded the board to put Brown's name on the ballot.
However, a 2nd Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling issued a stay in the federal case, nullifying the preliminary injunction issued by Sinatra that ordered the Erie County Board of Elections to place Brown on the ballot, and after that ruling, Brown's team decided not to appeal and that he'd continue on with the write-in campaign.
Then, there was the parking ticket controversy, in which Walton wondered aloud if Brown had deliberately harassed and intimidated her by towing her car over unpaid parking tickets and an expired inspection.
"My experience is not uncommon for average Buffalonians," Walton said. "We are the third poorest city of its side in the nation. I think that what happened to me resonates with a lot of people. We need leadership from people who are experiencing these issues and who are plugged in to what's happening in our community in the ground level."
As candidates in any political race often do, Walton and Brown took shots at each other throughout the duration of their respective campaigns. Walton pointed out on several occasions, including Monday on social media, that Brown is accepting financial help from Republicans, which is something she claims she'd never do.
Brown has been critical of Walton for lacking the experience necessary to successfully run the office of the mayor, and he has also called Walton's policies 'radical."
"We know the difference between socialism and democracy," said Brown, during his write-in campaign announcement. "We are going to fight for democracy in the City of Buffalo."
Of course, Walton's Democratic Socialist policies are central to this race, and she believes the Brown campaign is trying to strike fear into the minds of voters who don't understand what that means.
"I am a Democratic Socialist - Democrat is the first word in that," said Walton earlier this summer. "I think that socialism is used as a dog whistle to ignore the fact that this campaign is centered on people and rooted in love and care. The policies that we implement are going to focus on working class people, on affordable housing, on a equality education, and increasing public safety - things that we know when we take care of the least of us, benefit us all."
Last Wednesday, their ideas were put to the test in the form of a debate at St. Joe's. One of the major policy topics during the race has been public safety.
"My plan is to free police to do police work, which is solving crime, investigate crime, and keep our community safe," said Walton. "The first thing we is stop police from being dog catchers, homelessness outreach, mental health counselors, and we put professionals into those roles that is their job to do. We cut police overtime; we can end the militarization - we don't need tanks on the streets when people peacefully protest."
"India Walton is completely wrong when she says she hasn't campaigned on defunding police," Brown responded. "She said that she would cut $7.5 million from the police department budget, which is clearly defunding police, and that would result in 100 less police officers on the streets of this community."
Read more on the candidates' public safety policies below:
As long as Walton doesn't clearly run away with the count on Election Day, it's very likely the drama isn't over. Because of the write-in campaign and the work that will need to go into tabulating those votes, it's possible we won't know a winner for several days following the election.
"I think it's going to be important for our Board to make sure that the public understands what's happening here and the media understands that post-election day, this is an unprecedented situation for this size of a potential write-in campaign," said Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Jeremy Zellner. "It's going to take us some time, and we're going to have lay out how this Board is going to handle counting the write-in ballots afterwards.
"We want people ton understand that this has never really happened at this level in the state," Zellner continued. "It's imperative that everyone is understanding what's to come because this is something that we've never dealt with on this level before."
