Common Council candidate India Walton holds a campaign sign near the Delavan Grider Community Center on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The former mayoral candidate lost her primary race to Zeneta Everhart.
Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
Analysis: Reflect on a Primary Day where the progressives did not prevail
Some questions, observations and reflections on last week’s Primary Day:
Tuesday was not a good night for progressive and left-leaning Democrats: India Walton, Matt Dearing, Eve Shippens and Kathryn Franco lost, and lost big.
But it was a very good night for the Buffalo Democratic establishment, former incumbents and party headquarters: Zeneta Everhart, Leah Halton-Pope, Joe Golombek and Rasheed Wyatt won.
Most Buffalo Common Council margins were at least 2-to-1 and in some cases 3-to-1, with establishment candidates showing why the political “machines” got their name. They rally their voters with resources, coordination and children on the streets and on the phone lines.
People also read…
Having a website, policy plan, and Twitter following are important in today’s digital age, where potential voters are targeted by campaigns with increasingly sophisticated data analysis tools.
On Tuesday, however, he showed that if you want to give yourself the best chance to win, nothing beats having the support of the party.
Progressives are engaging in some self-analysis (or should be) after Tuesday’s scandal.
Some, like University District candidate Franco, who lost for the second consecutive election cycle to Councilor Wyatt, seem willing to shed the “progressive” label. She said she and others campaigned not on radical ideas, but on basic issues like replacing lead pipes.
“That’s why we pigeonhole ourselves as progressives, because we talk about these issues,” Franco said. “We’re speaking truth to power and asking that the everyday, regular people who deal with these issues day in and day out be the priority.”
Franco, by the way, is often mentioned by political observers as the progressive candidate most likely to be accepted by the Democrats in the future (if he cares).
Left-leaning candidates also criticized suggestions by Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner and Mayor Byron Brown that they didn’t work hard enough or that their message was rejected. North District candidate Shippens said her 40-point loss to Councilor Golombek left a clear message.
“The power of incumbency is real,” Shippens said. “People take personal offense when you go against an incumbent. And I ran a very clean campaign where it wasn’t a personal attack.”
If they’re looking for silver linings, Buffalo progressives could follow their biggest star, Walton, who struck a positive tone and quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after her loss to Democrat Everhart, endorsed by the party.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Walton said. “The political establishment in Buffalo is centuries old and we’ve been organizing in Buffalo for almost three years. So we’ve got some time to go.”
She added, “When 12-year-old girls come up to me and know who I am, and feel like they can run for office one day, that’s important.”
Walton, who is often portrayed by her political enemies as an angry wraith, ended with the kind of conciliatory message we see less and less of in our politics today.
“I think Zeneta is going to do a great job,” Walton said. “I congratulate her. I hope we can continue to work together to improve our community.”
Across the aisle, the Lorigo family – Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph and Lindsay County Legislature candidate – appeared to have scored a big win over county Republicans with Lindsay Lorigo’s defeat of Jim Malczewski in the 10th District race.
Lorigo’s election to her husband’s old seat is an outright victory over Erie County Republican Chairman Michael Kracker, who chose Malczewski over Lorigo.
But sources say the state conservatives’ cost of mailings for this race is more than $100,000, although it’s impossible to know the exact figure since the party has not timely reported its campaign contributions to the State Board of Governors. ‘Elections.
And conservatives backed up in most other races across the county, losing to upstart candidates and some Republican crossovers. So it’s a tenuous victory at best.
After the results of the 10th District race started coming in, some fingers in GOP land pointed at Kracker for picking what they called an unnecessary fight with Ralph Lorigo by not endorsing Lindsay Lorigo.
Kracker’s supporters say his first act as president could not be to give in to Lorigo. They say it showed independence and sent a message that the tail doesn’t wag the dog when it comes to minor parties.
Kracker laughs at the suggestion and insists he doesn’t feel the heat.
“I feel happy about where we are in the Republican organization,” he said.
And now… the race to November begins.
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