(Andrew Chernoff)
Conservative candidate Christina Fadden Fitch has lost the election for the 119th State Assembly District seat.
“I’m feeling at peace,” said Fitch, as she and supporters in the Conservative Party gathered to watch Election Night results at Pastime Athletic Club in Syracuse. “I ran a great race with no help from my party, my party that I’m a member of. My affiliation is Republican.”
By 11:18 p.m., the unofficial results had Democratic candidate Sam Roberts, a former county legislator, the winner with 18,626 or 54 percent of the votes, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections. The other votes tallied like this: 3,454 or 10 percent for Fitch; 11,010 or 32 percent for Republican candidate John Sharon, an attorney in the Onondaga County Attorney’s Office; and 1,160 or 3.4 percent votes for Green Party candidate Michael Donnelly, a court-appointed attorney for the poor, of DeWitt
All were contending to fill the seat occupied by Assemblywoman Joan Christensen, D-Syracuse, who’s retiring after holding the seat for 10 terms.
The 119th state Assembly District includes Salina, DeWitt, Onondaga and parts of Syracuse.
There are nearly 14,000 more Democrats than any other group of registered voters in the district, according to the New York State Board of Elections. This set up an uphill battle for Fitch even before the election.
At the Conservatives’ party at Pastime Athletic Club in Syracuse, Fitch made an entrance just after 9:30 p.m. “I got the issues out there,” said Fitch. “I think I portrayed not just my candidacy and what I stand for, but also to some extent this party where we overlap in terms of why I’m running for office.”
At the polls on Tuesday, some voters liked the message Fitch was sending but not necessarily enough to vote for her.
At the Eastwood Senior Center, Jason Gallagher, 30, a graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, was an example of an angry voter who third-party candidates like Fitch were hoping would vote for them.
“I think it’s even important for people who feel disenfranchised to not vote Democrat or Republican just so that we can have more choices on our ballots,” said Gallagher.
At the Onondaga Town Hall, other voters echoed the dissatisfaction with Albany. John Delperuto, 54, of Onondaga Hill criticized the politicians in Albany.
“They are more worried about getting re-elected and keeping their friends in the money than they are about doing what’s right for the state and residents,” said Delperuto.
Back at Pastime Athletic Club, Fitch enjoyed the atmosphere of around 35 or so people sitting down to dinner with dimmed lighting to watch the election results on two televisions.
“It’s nice,” said Fitch. “ It’s among many people that I know.”
(Andrew Chernoff is a junior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and political science. Democracywise reporter Crystal Barkley contributed to this story.)
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