India Walton: Buffalo, NY Possible First Female Mayor, Delivers DoorDash When Not Campaigning

[appalachiablue]

- Daily Kos, Oct. 26, 2021. (Maybe posted elsewhere but worthwhile here as well).

In June, India Walton, the Democratic Socialist candidate for mayor of Buffalo, New York, shocked the establishment when she beat four-term incumbent Democratic Mayor Byron Brown in the city’s primary. With no other candidate on the general election ballot this coming November, Walton should become the first woman—and the first Black woman—in Buffalo’s history to serve as mayor.

The Buffalo News published a profile on Walton on Monday that illuminated not only how hard Walton has worked to accomplish the shocking defeat of Brown in June’s primary, but the hard work she has had to do just to feed her family while running for office. According to the News, Walton lost her job at the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust after they found out she was running for office. As a result, Walton had to feed her family, pay her rent, and run her campaign with loans from her mother and “gig economy” work. "From time to time, I drive DoorDash. I've got to feed my children."

According to Walton, her occasional DoorDash deliveries led to a mixture of shock and happiness from customers who recognized her as someone who was running for mayor. But in the end, what she wants is a government that works for people like her. Buffalo, like the rest of the country, is filled with people like India Walton, trying to make ends meet. She has synthesized the Democratic Socialist message very well, trying her best to thwart the right-wing (and too frequently not-so-right-wing) propaganda that any use of the word “socialism” means some mythical authoritarian South American country that Americans mostly know from 1980s action films. "I'm a Democrat – have been all my life. And 'socialist' just means your government should work for you."

Walton’s sole position on the upcoming ballot is being challenged by Brown, who tried unsuccessfully to create a new party line that he could run on in November. Instead, Brown has started a write-in campaign. Some establishment Democratic officials have remained mum, not endorsing Walton while also not putting themselves out there in support of Brown. On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer made headlines when he posted a full endorsement of Walton...

- More,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/26/2060244/-Buffalo-s-possible-first-female-mayor-India-Walton-delivers-DoorDash-when-not-campaigning
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- Chuck Schumer Endorses India Walton for Buffalo Mayor, New York Magazine Intelligencer, Oct. 22, '21,
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/10/chuck-schumer-endorses-india-walton-for-buffalo-mayor.html