One month after her election night loss, former mayoral candidate India Walton will talk about her political future in a WBFO Facebook Live event Thursday, answering questions from the public.
The session, at 6 p.m. Dec. 2, will be moderated by WBFO reporter Thomas O'Neil-White and will look at the possibility of her running for another office and explore the future of progressive candidates in local politics.
The interactive conversation will be streamed at theWBFO Facebook page, and she will answer viewer comments. It will be her first major one-on-one interview since the election loss.
"I expect to hear more from the India Walton that captured hearts and minds across the nation after her primary upset. I hope to hear from her what her political future will look like, "O'Neil-White said.
While she hasn't spoken publicly about any future plans, her remarks have often suggested a future role for her and her base.
“This election was not an end, but a beginning,” she said in a prepared statement shortly after the votes were tabulated. “The new ideas we articulated, the new energy we inspired, the new volunteers we trained and the new relationships we built will only grow in the coming years.”
Walton garnered national attention when she became the endorsed Democrat with a primary win over incumbent Byron Brown in June. But his write-in campaign lifted him to ultimate victory over Walton, a democratic socialist who became a rising star of the left.
Walton had been making her first run for office. Almost immediately after her apparent loss, the discussion on election night turned to her future role in the city.
Former Erie County official Warren Galloway, a Republican, said the political capital the 38-year-old Walton gained could be useful for the local progressive movement moving forward.
“I think you're going to see them run candidates for the school board next year. I think you'll see them start looking at other city council races that they could go after,” he said. “Because what are the secrets of the progressive movement with inside the Democratic Party? They look at areas where they think it's going to be a low turnout when then they get their votes out.”
Adds political analyst Ken Kruly of the PoliticsandStuff.com blog: “They’ll be council races in a couple of years, there's Democratic Committee fights, perhaps next year. Who knows?”
After the event is live, it will also be available to watch on YouTube