Bill and Judy Tassone watch the television as the election results come in. (Matt Phifer)
Republican incumbent Judy Tassone holds a small lead over Democrat David Stott in her re-election bid for District 4 of the Onondaga County Legislature.
“I’m happy, but I’m not going to be happy until we get the final numbers,” Tassone said.
As of 11:30 p.m., Tassone was ahead by 31 votes with all precincts counted. In the unofficial tally, Tassone had 50.3 percent or 2,151 votes to Stott’s 48.6 percent or 2,120 votes. Still uncounted were the absentee ballots, which could change the result.
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.
Tassone has been the legislator in District 4 since 2009 when she beat then-incumbent David Stott by 138 votes. The 2011 race was also highly contentious, with Stott accusing Tassone of voting to raise taxes. Tassone strongly disputed the allegation, saying Stott mischaracterized her vote on the county budget.
Heading into Tuesday’s election, Tassone was at a slight disadvantage in terms of voter enrollment. Of District 4’s voters, 32 percent — or 5,068 — registered as Republicans and 34 percent — or 5,302 — were registered as Democrats.
In fundraising, Tassone was far ahead of Stott. Through Oct. 28, Tassone’s campaign had raised $25,873. Stott had only raised $10,119. Tassone received much of her financial support from businesses and other political campaigns.
At the polls on Tuesday, some voters cast their ballots for Tassone in disapproval of Stott’s tactics.
Those tactics were “overly aggressive and uncalled for,” said Stacy Schaefer, 37, of Liverpool, who said she voted for Tassone because she did not like Stott’s campaign tactics.
Also at the Liverpool Town Hall polling place, Paul Blundell, who is in his 50’s, said that he voted against every incumbent. “The bums need to get kicked out, all of them,” Blundell said, “They don’t represent the people anymore. They represent special interests.”
As the votes were counted Tuesday evening, Tassone awaited the election results in the back room at The Endzone Bar and Grill on Old Liverpool Road. She was joined by a large group that gathered to see the results. Many of them were sitting keeping an eye on the big screen television in the corner, while others played darts or mingled. Tassone checked the television often for the first sign of what was happening. Her husband, Bill Tassone, spent the night on the phone getting the results from the districts.
With her slim lead, Tassone expressed some optimism of an eventual victory. “I’m more confident now,” Tassone said, “but I’m sure we’ll go through the absentees now and hopefully the Republicans voted well in the absentees.”
(Matt Phifer is a senior with dual majors in broadcast and digital journalism and political science.)
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