A high-profile Primary challenges Black Buffalo’s political power structure
BUFFALO — They are two of the most prominent black women in Buffalo politics: India Walton, a celebrated progressive insurgent shaken by a painful election loss; and Zeneta Everhart, an up-and-coming newcomer, goaded by a particularly 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 each other well.
But for now they are opponents.
Mrs. Walton and Mrs. Everhart will compete 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 black, by a white gunman at a Tops supermarket . The tragedy suddenly thrust Mrs. Everhart into the headlines.
Her son, Zaire Goodman, was one of only three people to survive shot that day. Shocked and furious, she soon found herself speaking out, including during a trip to Capitol Hillwhere she testified that the nation was founded on “violence, hatred and racism”.
“I hear continuously after every mass shooting that this is not who we are as Americans and as a nation,” Ms. Everhart said. “Hear me clear: 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, but lost to his write-in campaign during the general election, agrees with Ms. Everhart that many issues facing black communities in Buffalo and the country beyond.
But Ms. Walton, a Democratic socialist who has worked as a nurse and community organizer, draws a stark contrast between herself and her opponent, who works as director of diversity and inclusion for a local senator, Tim Kennedy.
“I’m a person who recognizes that Buffalo’s plight — the racism, the systemic racism, redlining, food deserts — is not accidental,” Ms Walton, 41, said in an interview. “They are the result of policy decisions made by people who are currently in power. I am not bound to those people.”
In some ways, the race can indeed be seen as a proxy fight between New York’s moderate and more liberal candidates, something that has played out time and time again since a resurgent left wing helped Democrats win solid majorities in the legislature. state power in 2018.
Ms. Everhart, 42, a former TV news producer, has impressed members of the state’s Democratic establishment, including Senator Chuck Schumer, who supported her earlier this month. She was the senator’s guest during the State of the Union in February.
Mr. Kennedy, a Democrat representing Buffalo’s East Side in the Senate, said Ms. Everhart, who worked for him for six years, had a unique ability “to connect with people” in Masten.
“If you care about the community and are committed to doing good 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.
“14/5 opened the eyes of the world to the East Side of Buffalo,” she said, adding that issues such as food insecurity, education, and the lack of safe housing and mental health care suddenly took on new focus after the attack.
“Buffalo has been in the mainstream media for over a year, as 10 people have been killed and taken from us, three others have been seriously injured and an entire community has been traumatized,” she said.
After her landslide victory in the mayoral primary, Mrs. Walton quickly found herself on CNN and other outlets, her win was hailed as proof of that the rousing power of the party’s progressive candidates.
“If you are currently in an elected position, you will be notified,” Ms Walton said at the time of her primary win. “We come.”
But that proclamation proved premature, as Mr. Brown — who is Buffalo’s first black mayor and has served since 2006 — ran an unlikely writing campaign during the general election.
Of some support from Republicanswho warned of a socialist taking over a major American city, and the support of loyal Democratic voters who had come to know him during his four terms in office, defeated Mr. Brown handily defeated Mrs. Walton in November, denying her the chance to become the city’s first female mayor.
That loss hurt even more, she said, as she watched Buffalo struggle through a series of crises, including a December blizzard that killed more than 30 people, the majority of whom were black, something a recent report said was partly to blame. was of poor performance. by city officials.
“There was never a doubt in my mind that I still have to serve the community of Buffalo,” Ms Walton said in an interview, adding: “And I think Masten was the perfect place for me to continue my political career and my employment.”
Like Ms. Everhart, Ms. Walton says the East Side’s problems—poverty, lack of opportunity and poor health outcomes—were exposed by the shooting.
Just like, she says, the guilty.
“The same people who showed up to denounce white supremacy and say we need investment in Buffalo’s East Side are the same people who have ruled for decades and are responsible for the state of this community to begin with. “, she said. Walton said.
As with the mayoral race, Ms. Walton, who has worked for and is supported by New York’s Working Families Party, a left-wing group, portrayed the race in Masten as one between herself and the Democratic elites. Erie County Democratic Committee Mrs. Everhart endorsed.
“Zeneta is a lovely person,” said Ms Walton, who said the two had worked together on community issues in the past. “She and I are very friendly to each other. But her candidacy is an extension of the mayor.”
Mrs. Everhart, who is making her first candidacy for public office, rejects this idea.
“People say, you know, she’s part of the establishment,’ Mrs Everhart said. “No, first of all I am Zeneta Everhart. I am always and forever my own woman. But if I want to change my community, my city and the world, I need everyone 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 feelings about both candidates.
For Tops, who now lies just outside the Masten district afterwards a redrawing of the lines of the Common Council last year, Dominique Calhoun, paralegal and former candidate for district officesaid in an interview that she supported Mrs. Walton.
For her, housing – not the shooting – is the main problem in the district.
She said she rented a house nearby without knowing it contained dangerous levels of lead, which made her son sick.
“India Walton had seen the story about my son and she contacted me,” said Ms. Calhoun. “And she has reached out to other people affected by the conditions of homes that should never have been rented.”
Earlier this month, during a lively Juneteenth parade that ran along the borders of Masten, another resident, Mary Mack, said she intended to vote for Mrs. Everhart. She described her chosen candidate as “more even-handed” than Ms. Walton, whose outspoken political style Ms. Mack viewed as a liability.
“Fighting people, sometimes they fight too fast,” Ms. Mack said. “So I’m going for someone who I think is more planted and grounded in their life.”
During the parade, Ms. Everhart appeared to bask in the admiration of several elected officials — including Attorney General Letitia James and Senator Kennedy, who posed for photographs with her — and her supporters.
She marched to the front of the parade route, just behind Mr. Brown and Governor Kathy Hochul, while Mrs. Walton trailed about a mile behind her, adorning her wagon with a defiant message: “Unbought and Unbossed.”
The two candidates didn’t seem to run into each other on the parade, even though they both talked to potential voters.
For her part, Mrs. Everhart says she and Mrs. Walton have known each other for years and have “always gotten along well.” But, she adds, her reasons for running have little to do with her opponent.
“I don’t run into anyone,” she said. “I run for Masten.”