Tagged: india walton

Selected Media

Buffalo’s progressive nonprofits back Walton with ideas – and money

By Jerry Zremski

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Sure enough, the Walton agenda appears to be the culmination of a progressive nonprofit movement in Buffalo that took root in the 2000s and that grew exponentially in the mid-2010s thanks to more than $5 million in grants from a charity founded by liberal billionaire George Soros.

That gift created Open Buffalo, which runs a leadership program that counts Walton among its graduates. And it supercharged a number of other local nonprofits – the Partnership for the Public Good, PUSH Buffalo, Voice-Buffalo, the Coalition of Economic Justice – that have provided ideas and energy to the Walton campaign.

Policing / Selected Media

How should police handle mental health calls? Buffalo’s next mayor will decide

By Aaron Besecker

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

The debate about the appropriate role police should take in mental health response often gets oversimplified, but most agree police involvement should be limited, said Elizabeth L. Mauro, CEO of Endeavor Health Services, a local nonprofit that provides mental and behavioral health services, including alongside city police.

Selected Media

2021 Election: Brown, Walton paint opposing pictures of housing in Buffalo

By Jonathan D. Epstein

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

The two leading candidates for Buffalo’s mayor are painting very different pictures of housing development in the state’s second-largest city.

Mayor Byron Brown sees a city on the rise, driven by adaptive reuse and new construction that has drawn new residents to Buffalo.

His opponent, Democratic nominee India Walton, sees an aging city mired in failed policies of the past, and challenged by an inability – or unwillingness – to meet the housing needs of its poor and minority populations.

Selected Media

Buffalo agency raided by FBI awarded $20 million in grants to Brown campaign donors

By Charlie Specht & Dan Herbeck

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

A Buffalo City Hall agency that was raided two years ago by federal agents has given $20 million in funds over the past eight years to contributors to Mayor Byron W. Brown’s campaign.

It has also sold property or awarded exclusive development rights to campaign contributors without public bidding, though the Brown administration says campaign cash has nothing to do with getting city contracts.

The Buffalo News analyzed eight years of spending by the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, at whose offices the FBI executed a search warrant in 2019. The agency doles out millions of dollars in anti-poverty money and economic development funds the city receives from the federal government each year.

Selected Media

Meet India Walton: Black Socialist on Democratic Ticket for Buffalo Mayor Snubbed by NY Dem Party

By Amy Goodman & Juan González

Read the full article from Democracy Now!, here.

As early voting kicks off Saturday in a nationally watched mayoral race in Buffalo, New York, we speak with India Walton, who shocked the Democratic establishment when she defeated four-term Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in the Democratic primary. Since then, the self-described socialist has faced stiff opposition from within her party, with many top Democrats in the state, including Governor Kathy Hochul and Senator Chuck Schumer, refusing to endorse her. State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs even compared Walton to former KKK leader David Duke in an interview, for which he later apologized. Walton is a Black single mother, a registered nurse and longtime community activist. If elected on November 2, she will be the first mayor of a major American city in decades who identifies as a socialist. Walton says she is “hyper-focused” on her campaign and does not want to take part in the vitriol of her opponents. “I am running for mayor of Buffalo as an expression of love,” Walton adds.

Selected Media

Ocasio-Cortez to stump for Walton in Buffalo; Hochul remains on sidelines

By Robert J. McCarthy & Tom Precious

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

The hot contest for mayor of Buffalo is suddenly dominating New York’s political agenda as one of the state’s top figures plunges into the race and another clings to the sidelines.

The Buffalo News learned Tuesday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx will campaign in Buffalo on Saturday for a like-minded progressive, Democratic nominee India B. Walton, who is challenging four-term incumbent Byron W. Brown. At the same time, Gov. Kathy Hochul is making headlines by sitting out the race and expressing no preference for mayor of her hometown.

Selected Media

Democratic Boss Uses David Duke in Analogy About India Walton

By Nia Prater

Read the full article from Intelligencer, here.

When asked why several leaders in his party have yet to endorse Democratic primary winners such as Buffalo’s socialist candidate India Walton, the head of New York’s Democratic Party answered with an analogy that invoked an unexpected figure: David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. He quickly received backlash from some of his fellow Democrats.

Selected Media

Masten still a Byron Brown stronghold, but voters’ desire for change cuts into his support

By Deidre Williams

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Community leaders say Brown still has support in Masten for the Nov. 2 election. But Walton has picked up support here, too, and holding down his vote totals in Masten could be pivotal to her chances.

The Masten District extends from Main Street to as far east as Bailey Avenue, and extends generally from East Amherst Street to as far south as Best Street, encompassing all or parts of the Hamlin Park, Delavan Grider, Fillmore-Leroy, Kensington Bailey, Genesee-Moselle and MLK Park neighborhoods.

Selected Media

Brown, Walton stress housing and development platforms in bids for support

By Deidre Williams & Mark Sommer

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Housing and development emerged as a theme for both mayoral candidates as they hit the campaign trail less than a month before the general election.

Walton touted land trusts, and Brown acknowledged they have a role in the city’s future – to a degree.

Brown said he would continue working with developers on housing and commercial initiatives, and Walton acknowledged they also have a role in the city’s future – to a degree.

2021 election issues: Does Byron Brown deserve credit for Buffalo’s population increase?

Selected Media

2021 election issues: Does Byron Brown deserve credit for Buffalo’s population increase?

By Jerry Zremski

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

This summer, Brown’s prediction came true. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Buffalo’s population grew 6.5% between 2010 and 2020 – its first such increase in 70 years, coming at a time when cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit continued to lose residents.

But is Brown responsible for the turnaround?

The answer could be key to voters choosing between Brown, a four-term incumbent who is waging a write-in campaign against India Walton, the democratic socialist who unexpectedly beat him in June’s Democratic primary.

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