(Eric Vilas-Boas)
Democrat Chris Ryan has won the race for the Onondaga County legislator of District 8.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of planning, a lot of time away from family,” said Ryan at the Onondaga County Democratic Committee’s party. He added: “It’s very rewarding.”
As of 10:28 p.m., with 100 percent of votes tallied, Ryan has unofficially won with 76 percent, or 1,499 votes. His Republican opponent Larry Corso received 23 percent, or 459 votes, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
District 8 is in the center of Onondaga County, including a portion of Solvay, a portion of Geddes, and the northwestern corner of the city of Syracuse.
Ryan, 38, has been a Geddes town councilor since 2006 and a union official for the past decade. He is executive vice president of Communication Workers of America Local 1123. He comes from a prominent Syracuse political clan. He also ran on the Conservative Party ballot.
In his district, Ryan held the party advantage in voter enrollment. As of August 2011, District 8 Democrats outnumbered Republicans more than 2-to-1 — with 5,298 Democrats and 2,408 Republicans registered. Voters registered as unaffiliated make up 25 percent — or 2,864 — of total enrollment in the district. With one percent of the total enrollment — or 163 voters — the Conservatives are the fourth-largest party in District 8.
In fund-raising, Ryan had the lead over Corso by a wide margin. As of Nov. 1, Ryan had raised $20,082 and had $4,449 left over from three previous campaigns for town councilor. Of that, he spent $6,435 on his campaign, leaving $18,191 in his campaign coffers.
His opponent, Corso, did not file a campaign finance disclosure report this year because he self-financed his campaign, he told Democracywise in an earlier story. Corso’s finances did not total more than $1,000 for this election.
At Tuesday’s polls in Geddes, some voters gave hints of Ryan’s win.
“There are too many people in office that have been there that have never had a real job,” said Geddes native Mark Toth, 58. He tries never to be swayed by party politics, he said. But, he added, “I voted for Chris Ryan because I thought he would try to do a good job.”
At the Democratic party’s election-night gathering, Ronald Benedetti, a Solvay village trustee and Ryan’s friend for eight years, was among the first to congratulate him. “He’ll be a wonderful asset to the county legislature,” Benedetti said.
For his part, Ryan acknowledged that his new role as county legislator would come with new challenges. Said Ryan: “I’ll have to start waking up earlier in the morning.”
(Eric Vilas-Boas is a senior with dual majors in magazine journalism and English and textual studies.)
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