Republican John Dougherty is the new County Legislator for District 2.
“It was terrific, I just feel fantastic,” said Dougherty as the votes came in Tuesday night. “It was a relief, it was exciting,” said Dougherty.
With 95 percent of polling sites reporting, the unofficial results show that Dougherty had 52.3 percent or 1,961 votes. He beat Democrat Donna Marsh O’Connor. O’Connor had 40.1 percent or 1,506 votes, according to the Web site of the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
A third candidate was also on the ballot. That was Conservative Party candidate David Stewart. He had stop campaigning and endorsed Republican Dougherty. He has an unofficial vote count of 278 votes, which is 7 percent of the vote.
This was the first time that Republican Dougherty or Democrat O’Connor has run for political office. Dougherty now works for the Syracuse Research Corporation as a manager for business development. He is deputy chairman for the Clay planning board.
Dougherty fills a seat that did not have an incumbent. Republican Bernard Kraft held the seat for 20 years. He died in July.
On Tuesday, all 19 seats in the Onondaga County Legislature were up for election. The County Legislature now has seven Democrats and 12 Republicans, keeping the Republicans in the majority.
Republican Floor Leader Kathleen Rapp said the Democrats thought they were going to win, following on a national trend started by President Barack Obama for Democrats. “They were sure they were going to take the majority this time. They thought the whole Obama tsunami that came through last year would come through again and the tables would turn,” said Rapp.
At the polls on Tuesday, several voters chose to vote along party lines. One voter voiced concern over a Republican monopoly, while another voiced actual concerns on the issues.
Mary Lobever, a retiree from Clay says she is disappointed.“I just want some change, that’s all,” said Lobever. Lobever voted Democratic and thinks “it’s not fun,” when there isn’t more of a competition for Republicans trying to get into office.
Dan Mulhern, who voted for Dougherty, voiced the same concerns that Dougherty said he had found when he was campaigning door-to- door. “I believe in smaller government and lower taxes and that’s about it,” said Mulhern.
For his part, the winning Dougherty says Republicans keeping the majority in the legislature is a good thing. “I think it says a lot about the direction the voters want the county to go in,” said Dougherty. Dougherty says this victory is the culmination of a lot of hard work. “It’s great, it means the world to me,” said Dougherty.
(Shardé Edwards is a graduate student in broadcast journalism.)
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