Global Courant
One nearly became Buffalo’s first female mayor. The other rose to prominence after her son survived a racist mass shooting.
Democrats India Walton and Zeneta Everhart consider themselves political allies, but they’re pitted against each other in a race for a seat on Buffalo’s Common Council, one of several local government offices up for grabs in the primary be held in New York on Tuesday.
The two black women vie to represent a part of the Rust Belt city still healing from the attack of a white supremacist who killed 10 people at a neighborhood grocery store a little over a year ago. That mass shooting was followed by a punishing snowstorm in December that killed 47 people in the city and its suburbs, with a disproportionate number of victims coming from Buffalo’s Black neighborhoods.
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Walton, 41, is attempting a comeback after a rollercoaster defeat in the city’s 2021 mayoral race. In that contest, she stunned the political establishment by landing an upset victory over longtime incumbent, Byron Brown, in a primary where she ran far to the left as a democratic socialist.
With no Republican on the ballot, Walton also briefly looked like a sure winner in the general election, but Brown came back as a write-in candidate and won with the support of centrist Democrats, Buffalo’s business community and Republicans who said that Walton, a former nurse and labor organizer, was too liberal.
Mayoral candidate India Walton of Buffalo speaks to reporters outside an election observation party in Buffalo, New York, on Nov. 2, 2021. Walton faces off against Zeneta Everhart in a race for a seat on the Buffalo Common Council. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex, File)
While Walton remains a political outsider in Buffalo, Everhart, a former television producer, had quietly carved out a more conventional career in politics as a senator’s aide when tragedy thrust her into the spotlight.
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Her son, Zaire Goodman, was one of 13 people shot at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo on May 14, 2022. Goodman, who worked part-time at the supermarket, was hit in the neck but survived.
Weeks later, Everhart testified before Congress, telling members that shrapnel will remain in her son’s body for the rest of his life. She has continued to speak publicly about racism and gun violence in the US in the months since
Everhart, 42, said Monday she probably would have run for the seat, which represents Buffalo’s Masten district, even if the attack never happened, but that it influenced her decision.
“Part of my desire to run for Masten is to pay it forward because of the love that was shown to my son,” Everhart said during a phone interview. “People still bring gifts to me, leave things on my doorstep for Zaire. And for me that means I have to give back to my community.”
The grocery store that was targeted by an 18-year-old white supremacist is now just outside the precinct the two women represent.
Walton could not be reached for an interview on Monday. In interviews and throughout the campaign trail, the two candidates have emphasized their different approaches to governing, with Walton emphasizing her willingness to fight against a political establishment she says hasn’t done enough, and Everhart citing her capabilities as a coalition builder.
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Everhart is endorsed by the county’s Democratic Party, while Walton is endorsed by the left-leaning Working Families Party.
The two women have known each other for years and have expressed respect for each other.
“We’re not adversaries, in my book,” Everhart said.
Primary elections held statewide on Tuesday will select party candidates for a variety of local offices, including some district legislators, city supervisors, prosecutors, mayors and members of the New York City Council.
There are no state offices on the ballot in 2023.
