Several leadership positions in Syracuse and Onondaga County were up for grabs this Election Day. After polls closed Tuesday evening, former refugee Chol Majok earned his spot on the Syracuse Common Council, while long-standing incumbent District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick maintained his seat for an eighth term.

Here are the results of Tuesday’s Common Council, DA and county comptroller elections:

Common Council
Majok’s election to the 3rd District Common Council seat makes him the first former refugee to hold an elected office in the city and county. Majok, who fled civil war in South Sudan when he was 8-years-old, will now represent a district that encompasses much of Syracuse University’s South Campus and the city’s Southside neighborhood. 

As of 11:13 p.m., Majok won by about 82% of the vote and defeated Emad Rahim of the Working Families Party. Majok defeated incumbent Councilor Bryn Lovejoy-Grinnell and Rahim, a former refugee from Cambodia, in the Democratic primary. Lovejoy-Grinnell was endorsed by the Democratic Party. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh endorsed Rahim. 

Councilor-at-large Michael Greene and School Board Member Rita Paniagua won two of Common Council’s at-large seats. Greene and Paniagua were running against Libertarian Party candidate Thomas Babilon, Green Party candidate Frank Cetera and Republican candidates Jason Zeigler and Norm Snyder. Greene and Paniagua each earned about 34% of the vote. 

One at-large seat belonged to Steven Thompson, who served as at-large councilor for four years before losing in the 2019 Democratic primary. 

Democrat Patrick Hogan will return to the Common Council as a representative of the city’s 2nd District, which includes the northwest part of Syracuse. Hogan won by about 83% of the vote, beating Bill Bass of the Green Party and William Martin of the Libertarian Party, respectively. Hogan served four terms in the 2nd District Common Council seat, leaving the council in 2013 after term limits prevented him from running for a fifth consecutive term. 

District attorney
Two newcomers unsuccessfully contested long-standing incumbent Bill Fitzpatrick for the position of district attorney. 

Bill Fitzpatrick, who has served as DA since 1992, earned about 53% of the vote. He defeated Democrat Chuck Keller and Republican Gary Lavine by about 15% and 45%, respectively. 

Keller, endorsed by the Onondaga County Democratic Committee, served as a criminal defense attorney for more than two decades and focused his campaign on prison and bail reform. Lavine, counsel to Syracuse-based law firm Bousquet Holstein PLLC, was endorsed by the Conservative Party.

Fitzpatrick told The Daily Orange that he has focused on understanding factors behind crime and conviction rates throughout his tenure as DA. He has also promoted eight diversion programs, which process cases involving adolescents and at-risk groups.

Lavine ran on a platform of “restoring integrity” to the DA’s office. He told The D.O. that several controversies made Fitzpatrick unfit to be DA. Lavine’s campaign distributed campaign mailers that accused Fitzpatrick of covering for former DA investigator Peter Rauch. Years after the alleged cover-up, Rauch killed a teenager while driving drunk. 

County comptroller
Democrat Marty Masterpole defeated Republican incumbent Matt Beadnell by a slim margin, earning about 52% of the vote and securing the county comptroller position. 

The race pitted an elected city official against an appointed incumbent. Masterpole, who previously held positions in the county legislature and the Common Council, has served as city auditor for eight years. County Executive Ryan McMahon appointed Beadnell to the position of county comptroller in January, taking over the position after former Comptroller Bob Antonacci became a state senator.

Democrat Nader Maroun ran unopposed for Masterpole’s former position as Syracuse city auditor.

Voters in New York state were able to get to polling stations before Tuesday as part of a new statewide early voting reform. New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo included the early voting provisions in his 2019 Justice Agenda, which addressed social and economic justice. 

The reforms were meant to reduce wait times and increase voting accessibility to individuals who would otherwise not be able to cast their ballot on Election Day. Early voting opened Oct. 26 and continued through Sunday.

Published on November 6, 2019 at 12:20 am

Contact Emma: esfolts@syr.edu