County District 15: McMahon a Quiet Winner for GOP

Share

Republican Ryan McMahon has won his first county legislature election for the open seat in District 15.

“It’s been a long process,” McMahon said as he and his family gathered at his Strathmore-area home.  “This was a new race with a lot of new territory so we had to forge new relationships and we did that.”

As of 10:21 p.m. Tuesday, with 100 percent of the vote counted, McMahon was the unofficial winner with 3,089 — more than 58 percent of the vote — over Democrat Mark English, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections. On his second run for county legislator, English had 2,204 votes.

County District 15 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the southwestern corner of Geddes, Solvay and a small southern portion of the city of Syracuse.

Since 2005, McMahon has been on the Syracuse Common Council, representing the city’s District 3.

At the polls on Tuesday, some voters expressed confidence in McMahon’s experience in the Common Council and were unaware of English’s background in politics.

At Bellevue Heights Methodist Church polling place, Chuck Stroun praised McMahon. “I have followed his career and he has been consistent and stayed on message since he first began,” said Stroun.

In campaign fundraising, McMahon has kept a strong lead over his opponent. Between early July to late October, he raised $41,400 — almost four times as much as English, with only $10,339.

At GOP Headquarters, McMahon won praise for his victory from fellow Republicans, including Republican Party Chairman, Tom Dadey. “He’s got the experience in local government, he’s a hard worker, he’s very accessible and has a great family in the area and he cares about the community and move this community forward,” said Dadey.

For his part, McMahon celebrated his victory quietly and thanked his family and supporters with his triumphant campaign. “We are going to start the transition” to county legislature, McMahon said. “There are a lot of new young bright stars on the county legislature and we are going to really look to accomplish what we said we would do.”

(Stephanie Narvaez is a senior with dual majors in broadcast and digital journalism and international relations.)

-30-

This entry was posted in Fall 2011, No Feature. Bookmark the permalink.