India Walton, who defeated incumbent mayor only to lose general election, says ‘moderating is what got us here’
By Joseph Gedeon, The Guardian
India Walton has a warning message for progressive Democrats during Donald Trump’s second presidency: don’t water down your politics to win over the establishment.
The Democratic socialist who stunned the Democratic party by defeating a four-term incumbent mayor in the Buffalo, New York, primary in 2021 believes moderating her leftwing message cost her the general election. It’s a lesson that carries new weight now that Zohran Mamdani secured his own victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary earlier in the summer and inspired thousands of other progressive candidates to also run for office.
After disrupting the political base in the US by beating sitting mayor Byron Brown in Buffalo’s Democratic primary, she says she pivoted toward the center – and lost.
“Moderating is what got us here,” said Walton, now a senior strategist at RootsAction, referring to Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “I believe that moderating is what lost me ultimately the election in 2021.
“I pivoted fairly quickly … to try and integrate myself into the party, because I thought that was the way to build a broad-based coalition,” she reflected. “It sort of ate away from our message from the inside out.”
Recent Posts
The Progressive Revolt Stops At Hakeem Jeffries
Take Action Now The Democratic left bets it can win more by working with the House Speaker. That could cost them.By Katya Schwenk, Luke Goldstein,…
U.S. Sharing Nuclear Technology With Saudi Arabia Is a Bad Deal
Take Action Now This is an obvious, preventable step toward the proliferation of nuclear weapons.By Emma Claire Foley This July, the U.S. and…
Government Corruption a Top Issue for U.S. Midterm Voters, Exclusive Poll Finds
Take Action Now Harris poll for Guardian finds 76% believe officials care more about self-enrichment than helping everyday AmericansBy Lauren…
Radical Centrists Like Haley Stevens Are the Real Extremists in the Democratic Party
Take Action Now By endorsing Abdul El-Sayed’s opponent for Israel’s sake, Stevens shows how the real threat to progress comes from centrists.By…