Syracuse elects talk next steps after city, county victories
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On Tuesday, voters in Onondaga County elected a new slate of candidates for the upcoming term, with both new voices and familiar names collecting wins. Many of the races are still too close to call, but some of its largest, such as County Executive, wrapped up early in the night.
Incumbent Republican Ryan McMahon was reelected to serve another term as Onondaga County Executive over Democratic challenger Bill Kinne. McMahon is leading with 61.82 percent of the vote as of 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. McMahon said he’s “ecstatic” to be in office again, and that his next steps are to begin investing in development across the county.
“The voters last night delivered a mandate,” McMahon said of his victory.
All five people elected to Syracuse’s Common Council this cycle were Democrats, continuing their dominance in city government. Councilors Marty Nave, Patrick Hogan, Corey Williams, Patrona Jones-Rowser and Jimmy Monto were elected for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th districts, respectively. Nave and Hogan ran unopposed while Williams fended off Woodruff Caroll and Jones-Rowser defeated Hasahn Bloodworth. While Monto currently has captured 82 percent of the vote, a write-in campaign for Jennifer Schultz has 17.56 percent of the votes.
Monto, now heading into his second term, said he wants to focus on strengthening neighborhoods by working on the housing shortage.
“We do not have enough places for people to live. We are not building fast enough. We have an aging housing stock with some pretty severe problems,” Monto said. “So we have to be focused on getting people safe and affordable places to raise their families.”
Democrat Alexander Marion ran unopposed for Syracuse City Auditor after defeating incumbent Nader Maroun in the June Democratic primary. In the position, Marion wants to improve housing conditions, specifically regarding environmental concerns.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re prepared for this threat of climate change and taking on important issues like housing and code enforcements and making our economic development inclusive,” Marion said.
On Tuesday night, Maurice “Mo” Brown defeated Moise “Mo” Moodie to represent Onondaga County’s 15th District — which includes Syracuse University and much of its surrounding neighborhoods. Brown, a Democrat who was endorsed by the Syracuse chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party, built his platform around housing, the city’s lead crisis and unreliable public transportation.
Brown said he was not expecting the amount of support he received. While he thought he would lead by about 70 percent, as of 10 p.m. on Wednesday, he had a 84 point advantage over Moodie.
“It’s nice to know that so much of the community is on my side of those big issues,” Brown said.
Moodie, Brown’s opponent, said that although he didn’t receive the result he wanted, he accepted the outcome and is happy for Brown.
Moodie also said his work is only getting started with local politics. If Moodie runs again, he said he does not yet know what he would run for, and that he wants to see how Brown does in his position before he decides.
“Mr. Brown, if he does a bang-up job, they don’t need to replace him. There’s a lot of other seats that are open as well during that time, so it’s really just going to see what’s going to be available and will give the best viable option,” Moodie said.
For the 10th district in the County Legislature, Republican Mark Olson is leading Carrie Ingersoll-Wood, the current director of SU’s Disability Culture Center. Olsen has garnered 50.28 percent of the vote over Ingersoll-Wood’s 49.68 percent as of 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Marion said that this year’s election was a “team effort” between the county’s Democratic candidates.
“When (we) work together, you can have a positive, smarter vision for the future of this city, of this county, of this community,” Marion said. “We will be fighting together for things that make a difference in everyone’s lives — the housing, the economic inclusion and equality that everyone who lives in our community deserves.”
