(Ana Yanni)
State Sen. Dave Valesky, D-Oneida, defeated the Republican candidate Andrew Russo for the 49th state Senate District seat.
“We did it,” Valesky said, as he was greeted with roaring applause from the crowd at the Democratic Party election-night gather at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool. “This was a tough campaign but we stuck together and we’re going to go back to Albany and work with Governor Andrew Cuomo to bring positive change to New York.”
Valesky congratulated Russo on running a tough campaign.“He did his homework and knew the issues,” Valesky said. “I appreciate his support going forward. We’ve talked about working together.”
As of 11:18 p.m., with 100 percent of the vote counted, Valesky had 26,303 votes or 56 percent compared to Russo’s 42 percent or 19,445, according to unofficial results from the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
The 49th state Senate District includes the southern and northeastern portions of Onondaga County, the northeastern part of Cayuga County, the southern border of Oneida County and all of Madison County.
At stake in Tuesday’s election was majority control of the New York state senate. Heading in to the election the Democrats held 32 seats in the senate to the Republicans’ 30 seats.
In the 50th state Senate District, the Democrat had a small advantage in voter enrollment. The district is made up of 364,288 voters. Democrats account for 37.3 percent of voters, compared to 32.7 percent for Republicans, and 23 percent unaffiliated with a party.
In fundraising, Valesky also had a small lead over Russo. As of Oct. 24, Valesky had $277,143 on hand to Russo’s $156, 414.
At the Holiday Inn in Liverpool, N.Y., the Democratic Party headquarters for Election Night, the mood was constrained. Supporters gathered in small groups around tables and televisions. Around 10:45 p.m., the crowd perked up as more final numbers began to roll in.
At the Democratic Party headquarters on election night Barbara Olum of Fayetteville expressed her support of Valesky. Olum has been a member of the League of Women Voters for more than 25 years. As a member of the league she tried to be bipartisan, but she said she came out Tuesday to support Valesky and Al Stirpe, the Democratic candidate for the 121st Assembly District.
Of Valesky, Olum said, “I trust him.”
For his part, Valesky thanked his campaign staff, his senate staff, his family and volunteers.He also thanked voters.
“I think what we’ve learned in this campaign,” said Valesky, “is that voters here in Central New York and across the state want a new spirit, cooperation and their election officials to work together in a bipartisan fashion.”
(Ana Yanni is a graduate student majoring in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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