Episode 488 – Getting Buffaloed (w/ India Walton)

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In 2021, DSA candidate India Walton successfully won the Buffalo, NY primary over establishment incumbent mayor Byron Brown. She would have been the first socialist mayor of a large city since Frank Zeidler left office as mayor of Milwaukee in 1960. But she never became mayor. Brown sued to get on the ballot, failed, but then launched a successful write in campaign. Though she was backed by WFP and had secured endorsements from Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and AOC, Governor Hochul declined to endorse Walton, Echoing the current Zohran Mamdani moment. Now, Walton returns to Bad Faith to give her unique perspective on what it’s like to win a Democratic Party primary, only to be beaten by the Democratic Party establishment, to offer advice to Zohran Mamdani, who once campaigned for Walton in Buffalo, and to unpack her feelings on the viability of using the Democratic Party as a vehicle for real change.

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