Donna Marsh O’Connor
Democrat Donna Marsh O’Connor has lost the District 2 seat on the Onondaga County Legislature.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, the unofficial results had O’Connor with 40.1 percent of the vote. The winner was Republican John Dougherty with 52.3 percent. The vote count was 1,506 for O’Connor and 1,961 for Dougherty, according to the unofficial results on the Web site of the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
Also on the ballot was a third candidate, David Stewart of the Independence Party. He had stopped campaigning and thrown his support to Republican Dougherty. But he still collected 278 votes with 95 percent of the vote tallied.
District 2 was unique this election season because it is the only race with an open seat. The candidates were looking to fill the longtime Republican legislator Bernie Kraft, who died in July. The district includes the Bayberry area, the Route 57 corridor, Liverpool, and west Clay.
As the votes came in Tuesday night, O’Connor could not be reached for reaction. She skipped the Democratic party’s celebration at the University Sheraton Hotel.
At the polls on Tuesday, some voters praised O’Connor’s determined door-knocking campaign. .
At the Clay Town Hall polling station, Judy Fancher brought her husband to the polls to hoping for a change this election season. “We use to vote Republican once upon a time,” said Judy Fancher. But the couple acknowledges that they’re mainly Democratic voters now because of last year’s presidential election.
At the United Church of Christ in Bayberry, Rita Stala recalled O’Connor’s efforts to reach out to voters. She first spoke to O’Connor over the phone, she said “It seems like she’d make changes for the better,” said Stala.
It’s been 30 years since Democrats had the majority on the County Legislature. And the Party was hoping a victory in District 2 would be enough to break the GOP’s longtime hold.
O’Connor’s loss hit one Democrat especially hard. Martin Masterpole, legislator from District 17, went door-knocking with her during the campaign.
“I really, really had hoped for Donna to win,” said a disappointed Masterpole. “Sad as it sounds, I would’ve been happy to stay in the minority if we had Donna in the legislature because she’s a fantastic woman.”
(Jessica Shaw is senior finance and broadcast journalism major.)
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