Playing college baseball in 1968, second-baseman John DeFrancisco once took a ball to the face.
It crushed his cheekbone, requiring surgery, recalled longtime friend and teammate Herm Card. At the time, DeFrancisco and Card were seniors at Syracuse University. DeFrancisco spent weeks in the hospital, Card said.
“He came out of the hospital, and finished the season wearing a lacrosse helmet,” Card remembered.
That episode, say Card and others who know him well, demonstrated a major DeFranciso characteristic: “Tenacity,” Card said.
That trait, he and others say, has been a major part of DeFrancisco’s time in elected office, from his handling of budget negotiations as chair of the Senate Finance Committee to his long-term opposition to the Destiny USA tax deal and his support of the arts with state money at his disposal as a state senator.
This year, DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, seeks re-election to the New York State Senate for the 11th time. For the 50th State Senate District seat, DeFrancisco has no Democratic opponent this year. But he is challenged by Green Party candidate Michael Donnelly, a lawyer from the Syracuse area.
The 50th State Senate District includes parts of Onondaga and Cayuga counties. In this race, voter enrollment strongly favors DeFrancisco. Of 117,094 active voters, 36 percent are registered Republicans, 32 percent are registered as Democrats and 38 percent are unaffiliated with a political party. The Green Party has about 366 active voters.
The election is Nov. 6.
DeFrancisco, 66 on Oct. 16, and his wife Linda have three grown children and eight grandchildren.
DeFrancisco grew up in Syracuse. He graduated from Christian Brothers Academy, has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Syracuse University and has a law degree from Duke University. DeFrancisco practiced law in New York City and served as a military lawyer, known as a judge advocate, in the U.S. Air Force in Florida.
In 1975, DeFrancisco began his political career when he was appointed as an assistant district attorney for Onondaga County. In 1977, DeFrancisco was elected to the Board of Education for the Syracuse City School District, a position he held for three years. From 1982 to 1992, he was on the Syracuse Common Council. In 1992, he was elected to the state senate.
For the past two years, DeFrancisco has been the chairman of the state senate’s Finance Committee. Balancing this years’ budget will be his top priority, he said.
“We’ve got to get our fiscal houses in order, both at the federal and state level. That’s the most crucial issue that’s facing us right now,” DeFrancisco said. He hopes to find ways to make the government run more efficiently and to keep spending down, he said.
One of DeFrancisco’s longest battles is his opposition to the city’s Destiny USA tax deal, in which developers will not have to pay property taxes until 2037. Fellow legislators say DeFrancisco has kept files of information on the cases and met individually with supporters of the project to present his case against it.
“He’s got every single bit of information on the cases from the inception,” said Jim Corbett, a fellow Republican and former Onondaga county legislator who supported the Destiny USA project. “John pretty much wanted to take us all to the woodshed and show us the error of our ways,” said Corbett. He still supports Destiny, Corbet said, and he says he continues to be friends with the senator.
DeFrancisco says that for him, his persistence in opposing the Destiny deal was a matter of principle. “If people don’t go along with you and don’t agree with you, you’ve done what you can do to make sure you can be sure you can live with yourself,” DeFrancisco said.
Since his days as a Common Councilor, DeFrancisco has never lost a political race. He sits on a campaign warchest of $959,887, according to campaign finance reports filed with the New York State Board of Elections.
But in this election, DeFrancisco’s campaign has been muted, with no television commercials and few lawn signs. His district was redrawn in 2012 and includes new voters unfamiliar with him. So he’s focused his door-knocking and events in the newer parts of his district and has supported other candidates in the Republican party, who are hoping to keep their narrow majority after the elections. For example, DeFrancisco gave $75,000 to other Republicans campaigning for the state senate.
As for his own campaign, he said: “I think I can still be of great value to the people of Central New York in the political position I’m in. That’s why I decided to keep running and keep doing what I’m doing.”
Among his accomplishments as state senator, DeFrancisco and others cite:
- The 2012 budget coming out of last year’s budget negotiations
DeFrancisco credits his close relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his years of experience in the state senate. “I know avenues to get things done,” DeFrancisco said. - His support for the arts
Although he only recently took up playing the saxophone, DeFrancisco is a longtime jazz fan. For many years, he has contributed to arts programs with what are called “member items,” funds that state legislators can appropriate to causes in their districts at their own discretion. One of DeFrancisco’s largest contributions was $200,000 to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. - His support of the $15-million New York State Umbilical Cord Blood Bank Center in Syracuse.
Cord-blood donations are collected from umbilical cords and placentas from childbirth and contain stem cells that can be used for cancer treatments and blood diseases. - His sponsorship of the Bill Leaf-Brandi Woods law in 2006
It increased penalties for people who commit driving violations when they have previously been convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The bill is named for two victims who were killed by drunk drivers.
Former baseball teammate and SU classmate Herm Card says much of DeFrancisco’s political career reminds him of that second baseman who had to wear a lacrosse helmet on the field.
“John was the team captain. It really had nothing to do with being a good player, it had to do with being a good leader,” Card said. “We figured the team captain ought to be able to keep track of stuff that we needed.”
“That was probably John’s first venture into elected office,” Card smiled. “He was perfect for the job.”
(Durrie Lawrence is a senior with dual majors in broadcast journalism and international relations.)
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