Republican Larry Corso has lost to Democrat Chris Ryan in the District 8 County Legislature race.
“Well, you know, Chris is a good man. I wish him the very best. I met with him today, and I know he’ll be just fine,” Corso said, after the unofficial vote tally made clear his loss. “ As for my running, at least the voter’s had a choice. If I was asked to do it again I would. I’m glad I could do it for my party. I run as a Republican.”
As of 10:25 p.m., with almost 100 percent of the polls reporting, Corso has unofficially lost with only 23 percent of the vote to Ryan’s 76 percent. In the unofficial vote count, Corso had 459 votes to Ryan’s 1,499.
This is Corso’s second defeat. In 2007, Corso ran for county legislator of District 17 but was defeated by Democrat Marty Masterpole.
This time, for District 8, Corso and Ryan were running to succeed James Corbett, R-Geddes, who is retiring after 17 years with the county legislature.
The newly designed District 8 is located in central Onondaga County and includes a portion of Solvay, a portion of Geddes, and the northwestern corner of the city of Syracuse.
In terms of voter enrollment, Corso was at a disadvantage in this election. District 8 has twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans.
He was also behind his opponent in campaign financing. As of Nov. 7, Corso had not reported any campaign finances to the New York State Board of Elections, because his finances totaled less than $1,000. That left him trailing behind Ryan, whose campaign fundraising totaled $24,531.
At the polls on Tuesday, District 8 voter Mark Toth says that he looks for specific criteria in the candidates he votes for and is disgruntled over the few voter choices in elections.
“I look for someone honest. Not do business in the same old way day to day. Change, it’s time for a change. There are too many unopposed people running. Why? Because no one wants to invest the money or the time,” said Toth.
James Corbett, the legislator Corso was running to succeed a fellow member of West End Republican Club, praised both candidates. “I congratulate both of them. I hope that Chris Ryan will continue in my tradition of constituent service. As for Larry, it was an up-hill battle, and I congratulate him on running. He gave the best effort he could, and there are some races that are somewhat predetermined based on voter demographics,” said Corbett.
As for the future, Corbett says that he hopes the best for Corso and that Corso continue to be as involved with the Onondaga County GOP as he has always been.
For his part, Corso said that he will continue to be as involved in the Republican party as much as he can. “Let me put it to you this way: I’ve been a Republican for a long time,” said Corso. “It’s as simple as that. I do what I can.”
(Kit Rodophele is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. Demoracywise reporter Eric Vilas-Boas contributed some information for this story.)
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