In an overwhelming victory, Republican state Senator John DeFrancisco gets another two years in Albany.
Before his unofficial victory on Tuesday, DeFrancisco was optimistic about getting another term.
“I feel good. We ran a good campaign and I think we’ve done a good job,” said DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, of the 50th Senate District, said as he and other Onondaga County Republicans gathered for their election night party in East Syracuse Tuesday night.
By 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the unofficial vote count showed DeFrancisco significantly ahead of Democratic challenger Carol Mulcahy with nearly 100 percent of the precincts reporting. DeFrancisco beat Mulcahy by 38 percentage points based on the unofficial vote count from the Onondaga County board of elections.
DeFrancisco received 78,018 votes compared to Mulcahy’s 35,804. That’s a difference of 42,214.
Tuesday’s results are a repeat of the last time the seat was up for grabs. In 2006 and again this year, Mulcahy barely campaigned while DeFrancisco defended his seat vigorously.
Tuesday’s victory secures a ninth term for DeFrancisco as the state senator for the 50th Senate district. DeFrancisco victory can be credited to his record in the Senate, his campaign finances and the Republican majority within the 50th Senate District.
Since 2006, DeFrancisco brought in $4.15 million in member items to the 50th Senate District, the earmarked state spending for each legislator’s district.
“I don’t think you can go to an art venue in the city of Syracuse without finding that my fingerprints were on it trying to get some funds to make it happen,” said DeFrancisco in a recent interview with Democracywise.
And as DeFrancisco brought more money to the district, those in the district and in the state supported his run for another term. For the 2008 election, DeFrancisco pulled in $100,070.46 in campaign contributions. That’s a stark contrast to Mulcahy, who received no campaign contributions.
The state’s 50th Senate District voter breakdown also played into DeFrancisco’s victory. Republicans hold a strong majority in the district. For Tuesdays’ election, the Republican Party had 67,866 registered voters compared to the Democrats 59,837 registered voters.
By Tuesday morning, voters at the polls gave a hint of DeFrancisco’s victory.
As voter John Popkess of Syracuse made clear, Mulcahy had barely registered with voters in the 50th Senate District.
“I don’t even know who she is. I never even heard of her. I haven’t heard any commercials or read her in the paper or anything like that. So maybe she needs to get out and do a little more next time,” said Popkess, who voted at before seven o’clock this morning at the Nob Hill apartment complex.
Also at the Nob Hill apartment complex, Jim Doherty voted for DeFrancisco because of his record.
“He has a good record. I agree with his views. I’m very strong pro-life,” said Doherty.
Election night, DeFrancisco celebrated his latest victory with fellow Republicans at the Double Tree hotel in East Syracuse. Looking ahead to another two years in office, DeFrancisco said it’s back to work.
“I think the most important thing to do now is get the financial condition of the state back in order. We’ve got to consolidate things,” DeFrancisco said. “We’ve got to put things in back in order without hurting people.”
(Racquel Asa is a broadcast journalism graduate student.)
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