Voters will choose occupants for all 17 seats in the Onondaga County Legislature on Nov. 5.
But as of March 30, they will have choices of candidates in only two seats: Districts 9 and 11. In District 9, incumbent Bob Andrews, R-Syracuse, is facing Peggy Chase, a Democrat and registered nurse from Eastwood.
Republicans maintain control of the county legislature, holding 14 seats. The Democrats only hold three.
Overall, voter enrollment throughout the county favors the Democratic Party. As of November 2012, about 37 percent of registered voters in Onondaga County are registered as Democrats. The Republicans only have 30 percent of the county’s registered voters. But individual districts, which were reshaped in 2011, often are designed in such a way that one party has the majority of voters in the district.
Here is an early look at the county legislature races for the Nov. 5, 2013, elections:
District 1:
Incumbent Brian May, R-Baldwinsville, will be running for his second term. In 2011, May succeeded outgoing Republican Richard Lesniak. May is a management consultant with 11 years of management experience in the employee benefits and group insurance industries.
District 16 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the southwestern portion of the city of Syracuse.
District 2:
Incumbent John Dougherty, R-Liverpool, is up for his third term. Dougherty is a senior systems engineer and manager of business development at Syracuse Resource Corporation.
District 2 is in the north central part of Onondaga County, including most of the western half of Clay, bounded on the east by Henry Clay Boulevard and on the west by Lysander.
District 3:
Jim Corl Jr., the Cicero town supervisor, has been nominated by the Cicero Republican Committee to run for the seat.
Corl will succeed outgoing seat holder Chester Dudzinski Jr., R-Cicero. Dudzinski was appointed by Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney in February 2013 to fill the unexpired term of longtime legislator Bill Meyer. Mahoney had hired Meyer for a county job. Dudzinski has decided not to pursue his own full term in the election.
District 2 is in the north central part of Onondaga County, including most of the western half of Clay, bounded on the east by Henry Clay Boulevard and on the west by Lysander.
District 4:
Incumbent Judy Tassone, R-Liverpool, is up for her third term. Tassone owns New York Title, a title insurance company. She is a graduate of Columbia College.
District 4 is in the central region of Onondaga County, including Geddes, the western part of Salina, Liverpool, most of Onondaga Lake, and a small portion of the Northside of Syracuse.
District 5:
Incumbent Kathleen Rapp, R-Liverpool, is seeking her eighth term. Rapp is the director of mailing and marketing communications at a mailing service company. She received a bachelor’s degree in education at SUNY-Oneonta.
District 5 is in the northeastern region of Onondaga County, including the eastern half of Salina, the northeastern part of DeWitt, the southwestern corner of Cicero, a portion of North Syracuse, and the Sedgwick and Lyncourt areas of the city of Syracuse.
District 6:
Incumbent Mike Plochocki, R-Marcellus, is running for his second term. Plochocki is a lawyer and graduate of Cornell University. From 2006 to 2010, he was the mayor of Marcellus.
District 6 is in the southwestern part of Onondaga County. It includes Marcellus, Skaneateles, Spafford, Otisco and a small southern part of Camillus.
District 7:
Incumbent Danny Liedka, R-East Syracuse, is up for his second term. Liedka is a business development manager for Marriott International and an on-air commentator for Time Warner Cable Sports and ESPN U. He also is mayor of East Syracuse.
District 7 is in the central region of Onondaga county. It includes a small northeastern section of the city of Syracuse, as well as most of the northern and western parts of DeWitt and all of East Syracuse.
District 8:
Incumbent Chris Ryan, D-Syracuse, is seeking his second term. Ryan is executive vice president of Communications Workers of America Local 1123. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Buffalo State College.
District 8 in the center of Onondaga County. It includes a portion of Solvay, a portion of Geddes and the northwestern corner of the city of Syracuse.
District 9:
Bob Andrews (Republican, incumbent)
Andrews, R-Syracuse, was appointed by County Executive Mahoney to finish the term of legislator Mark Stancyzk, D-Syracuse, in February 2013. Mahoney also hired Stancyzk for a county job.
Andrews plan to run for a full term in November. Andrews, 40, is the chairman of the Syracuse Republican Committee and the director of business development of Madison-Cortland ARC, an organization that helps adults with disabilities find jobs. He wants to “create an environment where people what to live in the city,” Andrews said. For example, he calls for a county-wide discussion on using resources like Syracuse University to create new jobs.
Peggy Chase (Democrat, challenger)
Chase, 66, of Eastwood, is the chair of the Democratic ward committee in Eastwood, a registered nurse in Eastwood and an adjunct professor at Keuka College. Chase opposes the controversial gas-drilling method called hydrofracking and calls for more investigation into fracking’s effects on drinking water.
“Fracking is really not something I think at this point is safe,” Chase said.
District 9 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the northeastern part of the city of Syracuse.
District 10:
Incumbent Kevin Holmquist, R-East Syracuse, is up for his fifth term. He is the Manlius branch manager at Key Bank and Key Investments. He graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
District 10 is on the eastern side of Onondaga County and includes most of Manlius, Minoa and all of Fayetteville.
District 11:
Patrick Kilmartin (Republican, incumbent)
Kilmartin, R-Syracuse, is looking for his fourth term, after running unsuccessfully for County Family Court Judge in 2012. Kilmartin is a lawyer at Brookline Development Company.
Maggie Mahoney (Democrat, challenger)
Mahon
ey, 43, of Nedrow, is a secretary at 1199 SEIU, a health care workers’ union. She calls for reconsidering where tax money is spent in the district, Mahoney said. She also wants a better relationship between the county and the Onondaga Nation, she said.
District 11 is in the central region of Onondaga. It includes the town of Onondaga, Nedrow and a small southeastern part of Camillus.
District 12:
Incumbent David Knapp, R-LaFayette, will be running for his second term. Knapp is a salesman for a medical supply company. He graduated from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Army Air Defense School.
District 12 is in the southeastern part of Onondaga County, including Pompey, Tully, LaFayette, Fabius, a small southern portion of DeWitt, Manlius and a small southeastern portion of the city of Syracuse.
District 13:
Incumbent Derek Shepard, R-Syracuse, is up for his second term. Shepard is also a member of the Van Buren Town Board. He graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and psychology.
District 13 is in the western part of Onondaga County, including Elbridge, Van Buren and most of Camillus.
District 14:
Incumbent Casey Jordan, R-Clay, is seeking his fifth term. He is a lawyer at Rose and Jordan law firm.
District 14 is in the north central part of Onondaga County, including the eastern portion of Clay, bounded on the west by Henry Clay Boulevard, and includes most of North Syracuse.
District 15:
Incumbent Ryan McMahon, R-Syracuse, is up for his second term. He chairs the county legislature and is the vice president at The Funding Source mortgage company. From 2005 to 2011, McMahon was on the Syracuse Common Council.
District 15 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the southwestern corner of Geddes, a portion of Solvay, a portion of the Town of Onondaga and the southern portion of the city of Syracuse.
District 16:
Incumbent Monica Williams, D-Syracuse, is up for her fourth term. She is a staffing coordinator at Rosewood Heights nursing home and is an administrative organizer for 1199 SEIU.
District 16 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the southwestern portion of the city of Syracuse.
District 17:
Incumbent Linda Ervin, D-Syracuse, is up for her third term. She is a retired real estate broker. She also graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
District 16 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the southwestern portion of the city of Syracuse.
(Tyler Greenawalt is a junior with dual majors in newspaper and online journalism and political science.)
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