- India Walton looks unlikely to beat incumbent Byron Brown in the race to be
Buffalo 's mayor. - Walton previously defeated Brown in a major upset victory in the Democratic primary for the mayor's office.
What's at stake:
India Walton, Buffalo's Democratic nominee for mayor, acknowledged on Wednesday that it seems "unlikely" that she'll be able to clinch a second victory against incumbent Mayor Byron Brown to lead
Walton, a nurse, community organizer, and self-identified socialist, defeated four-term Brown in a major upset during the June primary election for the mayor's office.
But Brown ran a write-in campaign to hold onto the mayorship after losing a months-long legal fight to get his name on the general election ballot as an independent candidate on the "Buffalo Party" line.
Officials released Walton's vote totals and all ballots with a mayoral candidate written in starting on election night.
But New York state law doesn't allow officials to begin actually counting write-in votes until 10 days after Election Day. The Buffalo News reported that Erie County officials will count write-in ballots along with absentee ballots starting 13 days after the election. The write-in totals for each candidate won't be official until the final canvassing and certification.
By Wednesday, Walton had received 41% of the votes cast and counted while write-in candidates received 59% of the total votes cast, the vast majority of which are likely to go to Brown.
"Tens of thousands of write-in and absentee ballots have yet to be tabulated, and we believe that democracy requires that every vote be counted, and that any improprieties that occurred be brought to light," Walton said in a Wednesday afternoon statement. "However, while we anticipate that the margins will narrow, it seems unlikely that we will end up with enough votes to inaugurate a Walton administration in January."
-India Walton For Buffalo (@Indiawaltonbflo) November 3, 2021
In the weeks leading up to the election, Brown and his team had been giving out stamps with his name to voters to use to mark their ballots for him, as is legal under New York law. (Stickers, however, are banned because of their potential to jam up ballot scanners).
"When I was elected in 2005, I promised that I would work to revitalize our City, build a safer, smarter, stronger Buffalo and ensure that every community shares in our opportunity and our success. And we've made incredible progress," Brown said on his campaign website. "I'm running in the General Election because there is far too much at stake to stop now. We cannot afford to turn back Buffalo's progress."
The Buffalo mayor's race became the latest flashpoint in a growing trend of young, progressive candidates like Walton challenging incumbent politicians aligned with New York's Democratic political establishment like Brown, a former state Democratic Party chairman and ally of disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
"I believe that he had his chance with the voters," Walton previously told Insider of Brown. "He has been a Democrat in elected office for nearly three decades. He was the former chair of the state Democratic Party. So for him to try and make the case that he is now some kind of independent candidate is ridiculous."
The Walton-Brown redux also caused friction and awkwardness within top New York Democrats.
Jay Jacobs, who chairs the state Democratic Party, got himself in hot water when, in explaining why he hadn't endorsed Walton, invoked Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke as another figure who he wouldn't feel obligated to endorse if he were the Democratic nominee for a mayorship.
Despite his subsequent apology and attempts at clarification, Jacobs' remarks sparked public condemnation from high-profile New York political figures and some calls for his resignation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer endorsed Walton, shaking up the race in the buildup to election day, with the rest of New York's Democratic political establishment, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, mostly steering clear of publicly backing the the party nominee.
"India is an inspiring community leader, mother, nurse and a lifelong Buffalonian with a clear progressive vision for her hometown," Schumer said in his endorsement, which reverberated around Empire State political circles.