Backed by court rulings, India Walton readies for Byron Brown's write-in campaign

Yes, she said, Brown supporters must now maneuver through the relatively complicated steps of writing in his name, while her supporters enjoy the easier option of looking for her name on the Democratic line. But Walton acknowledged her campaign has always prepared for either Brown’s opposition on a minor party line or as a write-in candidate.

“From day one we took his write-in campaign very seriously,” she told reporters at a downtown news conference. “We’re not going to change our strategy.”

Brown’s campaign on Friday said it will not file further court appeals, with one campaign source indicating the mayor seeks to avoid further delays in mailing ballots for overseas residents and military personnel.

Coming off the court rulings, Walton demonstrated more momentum Friday by standing with representatives of Workers United, the union that represents 7,000 food service workers in upstate New York, and 2,000 in Buffalo. The union attempting to organize Starbucks shops in the area offered a strong endorsement for the self-proclaimed democratic socialist who stunned Brown in the June Democratic primary.

“India Walton understands the working class because she is working class,” said Gary Bonadonna, who heads Workers United throughout upstate. “She inspires all our members at another level like I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.”

Because Walton has the union’s “back,” he added, Workers United will have hers.

But most of Friday’s campaign attention focused on how the general election campaign will proceed now that a panel of Appellate Division jurists in Rochester reversed the earlier decision of Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek. He had ruled that deadlines preventing Brown from filing on his Buffalo Party line were “excessively early” and unconstitutional. Also on Thursday a federal appeals court in Manhattan granted a stay in a similar but separate case brought in U.S. District Court. Judge John L. Sinatra’s earlier ruling also had the effect of allowing Brown’s name on the ballot – now put on hold via stay issued by the appellate court.

“I believe justice prevailed,” said Walton, who continually notes her status as the elected and endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party and has accused the mayor of circumventing established rules through his last-minute effort for a minor line.

“He is not allowed to use the legal process for new rules for him and for him alone,” she said.

Walton said the Brown legal maneuver had cost her campaign “tens of thousands of dollars” while noting taxpayers were also billed for the legal effort the county Board of Elections took to defend its ruling denying Brown’s access to the ballot.

“For me and my campaign, it’s not about keeping him off the ballot,” she said. “It’s about setting a bad precedent. Rules are the rules.”

She also acknowledged that voters could be confused about the machinations involved in establishing the mechanics of voting on Nov. 2.

“It’s all very confusing, even to me,” she said. “Not having him on the ballot means folks either vote for the endorsed Democratic nominee – which is me – or go through a trail of changes to find a spot to write his name in.

“It takes a very motivated person to go through all of those steps,” she added. “Good luck to him.”