Michael Heagerty lost his District 1 Common Council seat Tuesday.
“It’s a tough break for me and this campaign and I just want to thank everyone who supported me,” Heagerty said in an interview.
He was defeated by Republican Challenger Matt Rayo. Heagerty ran as the Working Families candidate after losing the Democratic ballot line this summer.
On Tuesday night, with 100 percent of the vote counted, the Onondaga County Board of Elections reported that Heagerty had 38 percent of the vote, compared to Rayo’s 62 percent. The unofficial vote count was 1,154 for Heagerty and 1,844 for Rayo.
District 1 is comprised of the northern part of the city and includes the area between I-690 and North Syracuse.
Heagerty is local businessman and entrepreneur. He owns the Palace Theatre in Eastwood. He was first elected in 2007 after Republican Jeff DeFrancisco decided not to seek a third term on the Council. In that election, Heagerty won with 76 percent of the vote. He was the first Democrat to hold the seat in more than 25 years.
In summer 2009, Heagerty lost the Democratic Party line after he was unable to get the required amount of signatures from his district, including his own. Going into Election Day, he had downplayed the blunder.
But Election Night, he conceded it might have cost him some votes. “It may have played a mitigating factor,” said Heagerty. “But I think overall we ran a good campaign.”
At the polls on Tuesday, some voters made clear that the misstep had hurt.
At St. Stephen Lutheran Church polling place, Judy Rotondo, for example, simply did not look for Heagerty. “I forgot to look for him on the ballot,” she said. “I feel awful, he’s my neighbor and I forgot to vote for him.”
Tuesday night, Heagerty watched the election results come in at his home off James Street with his two sons. Looking forward, Heagerty said he does not plan to run for political office again.
“This race was it for me,” he said. “I proud of what we did.”
(Steve Doane is a senior newspaper major.)
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