Why Won't New York's Top Democrats Back the Democratic Nominee for Mayor of Buffalo?

[Uncle Joe]

The race for governor of New York won’t be decided for more than a year, but potential contenders for the Democratic nomination are lining up on different sides of the question of whether their party’s leaders should back the Democratic nominee for mayor of the second-largest city in the state. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is all in for India Walton, the choice of Democratic primary voters for mayor of Buffalo. But another prospective contender, US Representative Tom Suozzi, swooped into Buffalo last weekend to endorse the candidate Walton beat in the primary, incumbent Mayor Bryon Brown, who is mounting a sore-loser write-in campaign with substantial support from Republicans. Meanwhile, Governor Kathy Hochul, who hails from the Buffalo region, is taking hits for refusing to endorse Walton. What gives?

Walton won the Democratic nomination for mayor of Buffalo on June 22, prevailing over Brown by more than 1,000 ballots in one of the most widely noted election results of the 2021 election cycle. The upset win for a newcomer over a four-term incumbent with close ties to the administration of ousted Governor Andrew Cuomo, and to Hochul, who served as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor, gained national attention for lots of reasons. It’s not often that sitting mayors are beaten in their own party primaries. And Walton was a candidate with a compelling story of overcoming hardship and achieving big things: A mother at 14 who dropped out of high school but went on to earn her GED while pregnant with twins, she eventually achieved a nursing degree, became a prominent union activist, and served as executive director of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that has fought to keep housing affordable in gentrifying neighborhoods of Buffalo.

But most of the attention focused on the fact that Walton would be the first democratic socialist to serve as the mayor of a major American city since Milwaukee Mayor Frank Zeidler left office in 1960. Like other democratic socialists who have run for and been elected to top posts as Democrats—including US Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—Walton is bringing a new generation of young activists into the party.

(snip)

So, of course, state Democratic Party leaders would be excited to support her campaign, which promises to make Buffalo a national leader in the struggle to provide affordable housing, reform policing, and address economic, racial, and social injustice, right?

Wrong.

(snip)


https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/new-york-democrats-buffalo/

[The Magistrate]

1. Hope She Prevails, Sir

Sounds like someone of real value.

[secondwind]

2. I'm going to venture a guess, and I may be totally wrong..........

Biden and Democrats are pushing a lot of good social programs, etc., what some folks would call "socialism", but democratic socialism is a bit too far out for most Democrats, imho:

Democratic socialism is defined as having a socialist economy in which the means of production are socially and collectively owned or controlled, alongside a liberal democratic political system of government.

Just my 2 cents here.

[JohnSJ]

3. I suspect you are right, but beyond that, taking into consideration independents, having the word

socialist in your party identification, would not be a winning ticket

The 2020 Democratic primaries in Florida demonstrated that

[NurseJackie]

5. Bingo.

[BeckyDem]

4. India Walton Didn't Come Out of Nowhere

Buffalo’s transformation is the fruit of years of struggle.
By JoAnn Wypijewski

A few roads in America provide a spectacular introduction to its cities, but of those I have driven none is so boldly demanding as Buffalo’s Skyway. Imagine you are approaching downtown from the south. You motor along Route 5, past relics from the lost steel empire, past the wind turbines and the beaches and the Outer Harbor’s parkland. You follow the signs. Nothing indicates you are about to be swept 110 feet off the ground. You are hurtling in the flow of traffic now, high in the wind, and there is no escape. The slim road arcs. To one side is the built world: a vista of urban architecture and transport routes punctuated in concrete by the largest collection of grain elevators on earth. To the other side, Lake Erie. You notice all this only in flashes; you’re moving, hands gripping the steering wheel.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/india-walton-buffalo-organizing/

[wnylib]

6. Byron Brown is an establishment Dem.

Last edited Sat Oct 16, 2021, 10:28 PM - Edit history (1)

India Walton is a Democratic Socialist.

Those differences might account for the split in support from state party leaders. The state party has given its official support for Walton as the winner of the primary. There might be some leading Dems in the state who agree with Walton's ideas, but don't want to be associated with the term "socialism."

Some Buffalo voters like Walton's ideas but have doubts about her ability to run all the departments and responsibilities of a moderate sized city because, despite her activism, she has never held an elected political office. Brown is emphasizing those doubts. Recently, Walton's car was towed by the city for back parking tickets and an expired inspection sticker. Walton bounced back from criticisms over this by saying it just demonstrates how hard it is to support and raise a family alone in the current economic and political climate of Buffalo. She also suggested that the timing was suspicious and "might" have been politically motivated.

Buffalo has serious issues of poverty and racism that a large number of people feel have not been addressed by Brown in his 16 years as mayor. The police department leaves a lot to be desired. The people are ready for change. Walton is a recognized name for them as a community activist who gets things done. Brown's close association with Cuomo has become a negative now that Cuomo has resigned.

BTW, that Skyway Bridge mentioned in the article is a menace, IMO. Back in the early 1970s, when I still lived in Erie, PA, a friend and I were returning from a day at Niagara Falls after dark. It was windy and had started raining. Somebody had apparently lost a hub cap or part of a fender on the bridge because our car hit it. I am glad that I was not driving. My friend already had trouble maintaining control of the car on the bridge due to weather conditions. There is nothing that high up and close to the lake to break the winds coming off the lake in a storm. He almost lost control of the car completely. There was no place to swerve even if he had seen whatever it was. I vowed never to drive on that bridge again. There are other routes into and out of Buffalo.

[Igel]

7. So, in other words, there are at least two reasons.

1. Don't like her politics.

2. Don't know that she's not a screw-up. No track record, why back somebody who might have no aptitude for actual problem solving and who has no track record?

Granted, often it's easier these days to run on "I have not record" because no record is unflawed and only flaws matter to some people. Still, that's only for "some people."

[wnylib]

9. I don't live in Buffalo so I don't

have a vote on this. I like Walton's successful activism record and many, but not all of her ideas. I don't like when progressive Dems use the socialist label. AOC does it successfully and has proven herself to be a smart, strong representative. But for most candidates who call themselves Democratic Socialists, it's like putting a target on their backs. They lose votes just by their self-description. However, Walton did win the primary. There is no Republican candidate, so she would have been a shoo-in if Brown had not started his write in campaign.

Brown has the experience, but next to Walton, he seems stale after 16 years.

[Marcuse]

8. The Buffalo Skyway

[wnylib]

10. The picture does not do it justice.

It is higher than it looks in this picture. When you are on it, the view and feel of the curves are like being on an amusement park thrill ride without the safety guarantees.

It gets closed during bad weather, especially in winter when snow, ice, and wind off the lake make it too dangerous.

[Marcuse]

11. All true. The current controversy is whether to preserve or to deconstruct.

[link:https://buffalonews.com/news/local/should-the-skyway-stay-or-go-in-buffalo-a-community-responds/article_aa8ff6a8-b268-11eb-802e-8fc6ab6a88bf.amp.html|

That beautiful midcentury space-age structure with its late art deco piers, wending its way through Buffalo's industrial landscape, is a treasure, providing one of the great pleasurable drives, helping make Buffalo the city that prides itself on being able to get you anywhere within 20 minutes. It is not, like the Scajaquada or Kensington expressways, a mistaken-taking of parkland. It is a celebration of Buffalo's harbor and industrial heritage.

Why throw that away? Remember what a bad idea it was to tear down Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Building? Let's not destroy Buffalo trying to turn it into someplace else.

[wnylib]

12. "Great pleasurable drive"?

Not after dark in the rain. Not in winter during a windy snowstorm.

I don't live in Buffalo so I don't have any say on whether to keep it or not. But I live close enough to go there often (before the pandemic) and I make a point of avoiding it. If I wanted a scary roller coaster thrill ride, I'd go to an amusement park.