BUFFALO — They are two of the most prominent Black women in Buffalo politics: India Walton, a celebrated progressive insurgent, jarred by a painful election loss; and Zeneta Everhart, a rising newcomer, galvanized by a singular terrifying event.
They are both Democrats in a deep-blue city, each with fervent supporters in the tight-knit Black community that makes up Buffalo’s East Side. They say they are friends; they wish the best for each other.
But for now, they are opponents.
Ms. Walton and Ms. Everhart are competing in Tuesday’s Democratic primary to represent the Masten district on the city’s Common Council — a battle between two candidates who have earned national attention under very different circumstances.
A stronghold of Black political power, the Masten Park neighborhood was also the site of one of the city’s most traumatic events: the racist massacre last May of 10 people, all of whom were Black, by a white gunman at a Tops supermarket. The tragedy suddenly thrust Ms. Everhart into the headlines.
Her son, Zaire Goodman, was one of only three people shot that day to survive. Shaken and infuriated, she soon found herself speaking out, including during a trip to Capitol Hill, where she testified that the nation had been founded on “violence, hate and racism.”
“I continuously hear after every mass shooting that this is not who we are as Americans, and as a nation,” Ms. Everhart said. “Hear me clearly: This is exactly who we are.”
Ms. Walton, who shocked Democratic leaders across the state and nation with her June 2021 primary defeat of Byron Brown, the city’s long-serving mayor, only to lose to his write-in campaign during the general election, agrees with Ms. Everhart on the many problems facing Black communities in Buffalo and the nation beyond.
But Ms. Walton, a democratic socialist who has worked as a nurse and community organizer, draws a sharp contrast between herself and her opponent, who works as the director of diversity and inclusion for a local state senator, Tim Kennedy.
“I am a person that acknowledges that the condition of Buffalo — the racism, the systemic racism, redlining, food deserts — are not by happenstance,” Ms. Walton, 41, said in an interview. “They are the result of policy decisions by people who are currently in power. I am not tied to those people.”
Indeed, in some ways, the race can be seen as a proxy battle in the struggle between New York’s moderate and more liberal candidates, something that has played out again and again since a resurgent left wing helped Democrats win solid majorities in the State Legislature in 2018.
Ms. Everhart, 42, a former television news producer, has impressed members of the state’s Democratic establishment, including Senator Chuck Schumer, who endorsed her earlier this month. She was also the senator’s guest at the State of the Union in February.
Mr. Kennedy, a Democrat who represents Buffalo’s East Side in the State Senate, said Ms. Everhart, who has worked for him for six years, had a unique ability “to connect with people” in Masten.
“If you care about the community and you’re dedicated to doing good things in and for the community,” he said, “There is a place for you in government.”
In an interview, Ms. Everhart said she thought the impact of “5/14” — the date of the Tops attack — was still being felt in Buffalo.
“5/14 opened the world’s eyes to the East Side of Buffalo,” she said, adding that issues like food insecurity, education, and the lack of safe housing and mental health services were suddenly given new attention after the attack.
“Buffalo has remained in the mainstream media for over a year, because 10 people were killed and taken from us, three others were seriously injured and a whole community was traumatized,” she said.
After her upset victory in the mayoral primary, Ms. Walton quickly found herself on CNN and other outlets, her win hailed as evidence of the surging power of the party’s progressive candidates.
“If you are in an elected office right now, you are being put on notice,” Ms. Walton said at the time of her primary victory. “We are coming.”
But that proclamation proved premature, as Mr. Brown — who is Buffalo’s first Black mayor and has served since 2006 — staged an unlikely write-in campaign during the general election.
With some support from Republicans, who warned of a socialist taking over a large American city, and the backing of loyal Democratic voters who had come to know him through his four terms in office, Mr. Brown handily defeated Ms. Walton that November, denying her the opportunity to become the city’s first female mayor.
That loss stung even more, she said, as she watched Buffalo struggle through a series of crises, including a December blizzard that killed more than 30 people, a majority of them Black, something that a recent report found was partially the fault of poor performance by city officials.
“There was never a question in my mind that I still need to serve the community of Buffalo,” Ms. Walton said, in an interview, adding, “And I think that Masten was the perfect place for me to continue my political career and my career of service.”
Like Ms. Everhart, Ms. Walton says that the East Side’s problems — poverty, lack of opportunity and poor health outcomes — were exposed by the shooting.
As were, she says, those who are to blame.
“The same people who showed up to decry white supremacy and say that we need investment in the East Side of Buffalo are the same people who’ve been governing for decades who are responsible for the condition of this community to begin with,” Ms. Walton said.
As she did with the mayor’s race, Ms. Walton, who has worked for and been endorsed by the New York Working Families Party, a left-wing group, has cast the race in Masten as one between herself and Democratic elites, noting that the Erie County Democratic Committee has endorsed Ms. Everhart.
“Zeneta is a lovely person,” said Ms. Walton, saying that the two had worked on community issues together in the past. “She and I are very friendly with one another. But her candidacy is an extension of the mayor.”
Ms. Everhart, who is making her first run for public office, rejects this notion.
“People say, you know, she’s a part of the establishment,” Ms. Everhart said. “No, first and foremost, I am Zeneta Everhart. I am my own woman always and forever. But if I am going to change my community and change my city and change the world, I need everybody at the table. I don’t care who hates who.”
On Buffalo’s East Side, which was targeted by the shooter because of its large Black community, there are strong sentiments about both candidates.
In front of Tops, which now lies just outside the Masten district after a redrawing of the Common Council lines last year, Dominique Calhoun, a paralegal and former candidate for county office, said in an interview that she supported Ms. Walton.
To her, housing — not the shooting — is the most important issue in the district.
She said she had rented a home in the neighborhood without knowing that it contained dangerously high levels of lead, which led to her son getting sick.
“India Walton had seen the story about my son, and she’s reached out to me,” Ms. Calhoun said. “And she’s reached out to other people who have been affected by the conditions of homes that should have never been rented out.”
Earlier this month, at a vibrant Juneteenth parade that ran along Masten’s borders, another resident, Mary Mack, said she planned to vote for Ms. Everhart. She described her chosen candidate as “more poised” than Ms. Walton, whose outspoken political style Ms. Mack viewed as a liability.
“Fighting people, sometimes they fight too quick,” Ms. Mack said. “So I will go for someone that I think is more planted and grounded in their lives.”
At the parade, Ms. Everhart seemed to be basking in the adulation of various elected officials — including Attorney General Letitia James and Senator Kennedy, who posed for photos with her — and her supporters.
She marched at the front of the parade route, just behind Mr. Brown and Gov. Kathy Hochul, while Ms. Walton followed about a mile behind, her float adorned with a defiant message: “Unbought and Unbossed.”
The two candidates did not appear to encounter each other at the parade, even as they both chatted with prospective voters.
For her part, Ms. Everhart says she and Ms. Walton have known each other for years and have “always gotten along.” But, she adds, her reasons for running have little to do with her opponent.
“I am not running against anyone,” she said. “I’m running for Masten.”
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