EMILYs List Endorses India Walton for Buffalo Mayor

For Immediate Release

August 13, 2021

EMILYs List Endorses India Walton for Buffalo Mayor

Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed India Walton in the race for mayor of Buffalo, NY. Emily Cain, executive director of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“EMILYs List is thrilled to endorse India Walton in her campaign to become the first woman and first Black woman mayor of Buffalo. Between working in the NICU, advocating for labor rights as a union representative, caring for children as a school nurse, and leading reforms as a community organizer, India has dedicated her life to public service. We know that as mayor, India will continue to lead on issues like health care equity, affordable housing, food access, and workers’ rights and we look forward to seeing her through to victory in November.”

Born and raised on Buffalo’s East Side, India Walton became a full-time working mother at the age of 14. India earned her GED while pregnant with twins who were born prematurely. It was this experience that inspired her to become a nurse in the same NICU where her twin boys’ lives were saved. India later became a representative in the 1199 SEIU, where she stood up for both workers and patients. She also served as a nurse in Buffalo’s public school system. In these roles, India soon noticed the disparities in health equity and access, which inspired her to become a community organizer for Open Buffalo. India was also the founding executive director of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, where she worked to develop permanent affordable housing options for her community.  

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 158 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.