Democrats ride blue wave to historic wins in Onondaga County: ‘People want something different’

Syracuse, N.Y. – Even Democratic leaders were surprised.

Onondaga County residents on Tuesday swept Democrats into office in a tidal wave that flipped control of the county Legislature to Democrats for the first time in nearly 50 years and won numerous other elections in areas that were once comfortably Republican.

“This is a Blue wave election here locally,’’ said Max Ruckdeschel, chairman of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. He won election Tuesday as DeWitt town supervisor.

Democrats won all six contested seats on the county Legislature.

Voters in Marcellus, Spafford and Salina chose Democratic newcomers over Republican incumbents in supervisor races.

In Salina, the entire five-person board will be Democrats. That hasn’t happened in 20 years.

Democratic leaders attributed their success to hard work on the campaign trail and a desire by voters for leadership that responds to their needs for housing, health care, child care and other pocketbook issues.

Republican leaders said there was another factor: President Trump.

“What was on the ballot today was really the president and a lack of GOP enthusiasm,’’ said Ryan McMahon, the Republican county executive.

Unhappiness with the federal government shutdown while Republicans control Congress, in addition to unpopular GOP policies, energized Democratic voters and kept Republicans home, McMahon said.

Joe Bick, chairman of the Onondaga County Republican Committee, said it’s clear that voters want change.

“You know, I think people really rejected our approach to governing,’' Bick said. ”I don’t know how else to describe that loss across the board. It’s really humbling. Losses across the board. People want something different.”

Tuesday’s vote came several weeks after an estimated 6,000 people lined Erie Boulevard for a “no kings” rally against Trump.

Republicans started Tuesday’s election with a solid majority on the county Legislature – 12 to five.

All 17 seats were on the ballot.

Only 6 were contested. Democrats won all 6.

Democrat Jeremiah Thompson, an actor and writing teacher, defeated incumbent Republican Colleen Gunnip in the 4^th district.

Democrat Ellen Block beat David Carnie, a Salina town councilor, in the 5^th district.

Democrat Gregg Eriksen beat incumbent Republican Julie Abbott in the 6^th district.

Democrat Chad Ryan beat Republican Shawn Fiato in the 8^th district.

Nicole Watts, a Democrat who ran on the Working Families party line, leads over two other candidates – Republican Bonnke Sekarore and Kenyata Calloway.

The Democrats’ victory stretched deep into Syracuse’s suburbs, where Republican incumbents lost town supervisor and board seats.

A supervisor race in Cicero remained too close to call. A retired middle school teacher, Democrat Rob Santucci, had a 37-vote lead over Republican Michael Aregano, a retired cop going for his third term.

Josh Ludden, field coordinator for the Central New York Area Labor Federation, worked on all the Democratic county legislature races. He said the candidates knocked on hundreds of doors to reach voters. They encountered people who were dissatisfied with government, locally and nationally.

“The working people of this country want people who represent their values and their needs, rather than the needs of the richest people in this country. And I really think that’s what happened. We’re seeing a wave nationwide that people are unhappy with the Trump administration.”

County Legislator Maurice “Mo” Brown, who assisted the campaigns of Democratic candidates, said voters want change in county government. He said the $100 million aquarium under construction in the Syracuse Inner Harbor is an example of “vanity projects’’ that frustrate voters.

“It’s an example of what government shouldn’t be,’’ he said.

McMahon disputed that, pointing out that he won election in a landslide in 2023, a year after lawmakers narrowly approved the aquarium project.

Democrats turned out to vote in higher numbers Tuesday than the last two elections, said Dustin Czarny, the Democratic county elections commissioner. More importantly, he said, Republicans stayed home.

He also said independent voters – a block that has been growing among young voters – likely leaned 3-1 for Democrats.

Democrats even won highway superintendent seats in traditional Republican strongholds like Lysander and Camillus, he said.

“This is beyond anybody’s expectation or even dreams,” he said.

He said the sweep was part of a national trend as well as a statement about some local Republican candidates.

McMahon, the county executive, said some Republicans lost because they were weak candidates or they ran in heavily Democratic areas. But others – he cited Julie Abbott in Skaneateles and Colleen Gunnip in Salina – lost despite being strong incumbents.

“I think there are a couple incumbents on the legislature that work really well and really hard who kind of lost their seats because of dynamics outside their control,’’ he said.

Several GOP town candidates blamed their losses on the national political scene.

“The people of Onondaga County don’t like the label Republican right now,” said Nick Paro, who two years ago got attention from state GOP leaders after he successfully kept New York City officials from sending immigrants to stay in Salina. “I don’t think there was anything that any of us could have done.”

Danny Liedka, a veteran Republican politician, agreed. He said his loss to Democrat John Deer, an incumbent who’s been pushing for an unpopular new town hall, surprised him.

“I ran the best campaign I ever did,” Liedka said. “It’s all Trump. Look at the whole county. It hurt all of us. What goes on in Washington trickles down to the local elections.”

Democrats say their new 10-7 majority on the county Legislature will force McMahon and Republicans to seek compromise and cooperation in ways they have not before.

“They see the handwriting on the wall,’’ said Legislator Charles Garland, D-Syracuse. “Because basically, with the super majority we can overrule (them) and they know that.”

Staff writers Michelle Breidenbach and Rick Moriarty contributed to this report.