Delaware District looms as major battleground in race for Buffalo mayor

"What do you think, Joe? India Walton or Byron Brown?"

Without hesitation, the computer software developer pledged his vote to Walton, the upstart challenger who stunned four-term incumbent Brown in the June Democratic primary. The fifth term that Brown seeks is too much, Kane said, adding that lingering questions about various investigations of City Hall make him uncomfortable.

"That whole situation is just not kosher," he said. "And there have been no results."

But across the competitive Delaware District on Saranac Avenue, Vince Gregory sees it differently. President of the Saranac Central Block Association since 1992, Gregory likes what he sees through Brown's almost 16 years as mayor. The Hertel business district thrives, he noted, while downtown attractions like Canalside boom, and property values in North Buffalo continue to soar.

Walton's democratic socialist philosophies don't fly among the "moderate, conservative Democrats" along his prosperous street, he said. Even with no line on the ballot, Gregory thinks his neighbors will take the time to write in the mayor's name.

"They love everything that's going on," he said. "They don't want that to stop."

As much as any Council district in Buffalo, Delaware may pose the most intriguing questions in this year's election. Brown, the city's first and only Black mayor, has claimed frequent success in mostly white Delaware during his career. He stumbled in the 2005 and 2009 primaries, only to bounce back in 2013 and 2017. But as early as 2005, Brown demonstrated his citywide viability by defeating the white Republican mayoral candidate – Kevin J. Helfer – in the general election, even if narrowly.

But Walton decisively claimed the district – Buffalo's most affluent – against Brown in the low-turnout June primary, posting a 65% to 34% win. Now Delaware emerges as a major battleground once again, expected to offer deep insights into Buffalo voters as they choose between Walton and radical change, and Brown as the known commodity.

Delaware voters now seem much more energized and aware of their choice, says Delaware Councilmember Joel L. Feroleto, who predicts a higher turnout on Nov. 2 following a ho-hum primary.

"I anticipate there will be a big turnout in Delaware – at least 50%," he said. "It's a very active and engaged area, and people are talking about the race in restaurants, grocery stores and drugstores. When I'm out walking my dog, people come up to me and talk about the race. In June, there were very few people talking about it."

'Looking for something new'

As in all of the city's nine Council districts, election observers say Walton won Delaware because she turned out her supporters and Brown did not. Even the mayor acknowledges he took his fiery opponent for granted, refusing to debate and barely mentioning her name throughout the primary campaign.

"In North Buffalo she outperformed the mayor in almost every area," said Feroleto, who has taken no position in the race. "I was surprised. She did better in the Elmwood Village and in North Buffalo."

Now signs for both candidates have sprouted throughout a district viewed as competitive. And most voters, like longtime activist Victoria Ross, are more than willing to share an opinion.

"Byron Brown is the poster child for term limits. He's had 16 years and 16 years is plenty enough," she said, pointing to Buffalo's wide disparities in "asset distribution."

The retired executive director of the Western New York Peace Center, Ross views Walton as the dynamic leader the city craves. Buffalo needs a democratic socialist to right the "excesses of capitalism" that cause wide rifts between the haves and have nots, she said. Walton must endure "smear tactics" with accounts of her youthful problems, she added.

"But investigations into his cronies actually convicted of crimes get ignored and soft-pedaled," she said.

Like most of Buffalo's elected Democrats, State Sen. Sean M. Ryan threw his support behind Walton after she won the primary and emerged as the official Democratic nominee for mayor. He explains the mayor's defeat by invoking "shelf life," an old political axiom that decrees every politician eventually falls victim to voters' desire for change.

"In 2017, he won handily," Ryan said of Brown. "By 2021, people were looking for something new. They were the same voters as in 2017 but they turned the page."

Ryan also thinks Delaware voters, whom he represents in Albany, believe the city can do better than installing "gotcha" speed cameras in school zones or failing to fill potholes. And while "big developers" gain routine approval in City Hall, he said, the typical North Buffalo resident gets disgusted by the bureaucracy complicating the addition of a new garage.

"For those reasons, North Buffalo turned its back on the mayor in the primary," he said.

'Happy with the way things are'

Nevertheless, red, white and blue "Write Down Byron Brown" signs seem to dominate much of the Hertel corridor this general election season. Attorney Thomas J. Eoannou, whose property holdings include the North Park Theatre on Hertel Avenue, said the business area is "doing incredibly well" and, as a result, he predicts local voters will again turn to Brown. 

Younger voters may have provided Walton with a vote cushion in June, he added, but voters of all ages in the district are now energized for Brown. He, too, invokes the "moderate, conservative Democrat" label.

"These are the people who have made major investments in businesses and homes that have done well under Mayor Brown," he said. "They don't want radical change, by any means. Now, given a choice of a democratic socialist against a mayor who had done well in this area of the city – I don't see it as a contest."

Even if the Elmwood Village section of the district sports a more liberal reputation than its Hertel area neighbor, attorney Keri Callocchia sees little difference. Sixteen years after moving from Tennessee, she sees a community embracing its natural assets under Brown.

"We are all very happy with the way things are going," she said.

Though Walton shies from any "defund the police" term, her plan to cut $7.5 million from the Police Department budget and the mayor's subsequent attacks seem to have hit home with Callocchia.

"As people learn more about India Walton, they see her as more of a fringe candidate and not good for the district," she said, expressing concern over Walton's plan to cut police resources, raise taxes and her 2020 role in protests against police excesses following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She does not link Walton to the vandalism stemming from unruly crowds along Elmwood Avenue, but points to her prominent role in the protests.

"We were afraid in our homes," Callocchia said.

But Ross, the peace activist, says change is needed. And if Walton's kind of change goes beyond Buffalo's usual political evolution, that's OK with her.