India Walton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids India Walton
Walton in 2022
Personal details
Born	(1982-06-14) June 14, 1982 (age 43) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Vernon Walton
Children	4
Education	State University of New York, Erie (AS)

India B. Walton (born June 14, 1982) is an American activist and nurse. She ran for mayor of Buffalo, New York in 2021. She won the first round of voting (called the primary election) for the Democratic Party. However, she lost the main election (called the general election) to the current mayor, Byron Brown, who ran as a candidate whose name people had to write in on the ballot.

Early Life and Education

India Walton was born in Buffalo, New York. She grew up with her mother and five siblings. Her mother worked as a pharmacy technician. India went to Lorraine Elementary and Leonardo da Vinci High School.

She became a mother at age fourteen and later left high school. She worked at stores like Family Dollar and McDonald's. She later earned her General Educational Development (GED) certificate. She then studied nursing at SUNY Erie and earned her nursing degree. India decided to become a nurse after her twin sons were born early and needed special care for several months. She later had another son. After finishing her nursing degree, she worked at Children's Hospital.

Career

Activism and Community Work

India Walton started getting involved in community work at age twelve. She protested certain drug laws with her mother. As a nurse, she was a representative for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which is a union for healthcare workers.

In 2016, she helped organize a protest about parking in the Fruit Belt neighborhood of Buffalo. She later left her nursing job to work as a community organizer for Open Buffalo. In this role, she focused on making changes to the justice system and policing. In 2017, she became the executive director of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust. This group helps people in the community own land together.

She also played a role in local Black Lives Matter protests. She supported a law called Cariol's Law. India has said that a specific event where a Buffalo police officer pushed a man inspired her to run for political office.

Mayoral Campaign

India Walton announced she would run for mayor of Buffalo in December 2020. The current mayor, Byron Brown, had been mayor for four terms. He did not agree to debate Walton during the primary campaign.

Several groups supported Walton. The Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America endorsed her. The Buffalo Teachers Federation, a union for teachers, also supported her. On June 22, 2021, Walton won the primary election against Mayor Brown. She received 52% of the votes, while Brown received 45%. After her win, many people saw it as a sign that new candidates could challenge long-serving officials.

During her campaign, important political figures like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand supported her. Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also showed their support. Her campaign raised $150,000. Mayor Brown raised over $500,000.

Walton is a democratic socialist. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She explained that being a democratic socialist means she wants to help people and not take away private property.

If she had won the general election, she would have been the first socialist mayor of a large city since 1960. She would also have been the first woman to be mayor of Buffalo.

After losing the primary, Mayor Brown decided to run again as a write-in candidate. This meant voters had to write his name on the ballot. On November 3, 2021, India Walton said it looked like she had not won the election. However, she did not officially give up. Even though she lost, many believed she had created a strong new political movement in Buffalo. After the election, she received a letter of support from former President Barack Obama.

Working Families Party Role

After the mayoral election, the Working Families Party announced that India Walton would join them as a Senior Advisor for Special Projects. She said she was excited to work with the party to help working families and elect new progressive leaders.

Common Council Campaign

On February 1, 2023, Walton announced she would run for a seat on the Buffalo Common Council. This is a local government body in Buffalo. The current council member decided not to run again, which Walton saw as a chance for new ideas.

She faced some challenges with her paperwork for the election. However, the election board said they could not stop her from running. Walton was endorsed by the Working Families Party. She ran in the Democratic primary in June 2023. She competed against Murray Holman and Zeneta Everhart. Everhart won the primary election. Walton said she would still appear on the general election ballot as the Working Families Party candidate.

Political Ideas

During her mayoral campaign, India Walton shared many ideas for Buffalo. She supported creating a bank run by the public. She also wanted to see grocery stores owned by neighborhoods. Another idea was to have a city-run internet network. She also wanted to help homeowners who were behind on their property taxes because they lost their jobs or had medical emergencies.

She supported giving more money to public schools. She also wanted to pause the creation of new charter schools. Walton said she would make Buffalo a sanctuary city. This means it would be a place that protects immigrants. She also wanted to help small business owners and landlords. This included giving money to small landlords for building repairs, like removing lead. She also wanted to make tenant protections stronger in Buffalo.

In 2021, Walton talked about how the city government could better support residents with fines and fees. She also said she would reduce the budget of the Buffalo Police Department by having unarmed responders handle mental health calls or minor traffic issues instead of police. She also supports having a civilian board to oversee the police.

Electoral History

2021 Buffalo Mayoral Democratic Primary

2021 Buffalo Mayoral Election