BUFFALO, N.Y. — India Walton became a household name in Buffalo when she won the mayoral primary last year. While she didn't win the general election, her issues and grassroots fight gained local and national attention.
"India Walton can't go away," she said in an interview with Two On Your Side's Claudine Ewing. "I'm always going to be a strong advocate for what's just and what's right."
Walton has a new job. She is the Senior Advisor for Special Projects for the New York Working Families Party.
"I'll continue to work locally, but I am going to work hand in hand with the progressive slate, the city council slate in Rochester and I'll also be doing quite a bit of work at the state level, advocating for budget priority legislation to be passed that benefits working-class people," she said.
Her job will also keep her busy recruiting and training grassroots candidates "who want to carry progressive values of the Working Families Party."
She believes her mayoral campaign accomplished a lot. "It really shined a bright light on Buffalo as a hotbed of labor and progressive activism. We are watching Starbucks workers unionize. We saw CWA nurses and healthcare workers on strike. We saw a true grassroots that was led initially by volunteers and people were really excited, that is a momentum that we can not allow to dwindle off."
When it was all over, Walton received a note from President Barack Obama."I'm proud of the way I've grown as an individual and that sort of put the final stamp of approval that I was doing the right thing."
She is not ruling out running for office in the future but admits it was a lot for her family to endure. "If there is a mandate from the community if it is strategic and makes sense then I'm willing to try again."
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