In a landslide victory, Democratic incumbent Joan Christensen has won her tenth term for the 119th state Assembly District.
“I want to say thank you to all of you who voted.” Christensen said at the Onondaga County Democratic Party’s celebration in Liverpool Tuesday night. “This is phenomenal, and I’m looking forward to the next couple of years.”
In a race that was never really close, unofficial results show that Christensen has defeated Republican challenger Christina Fadden Fitch. The 119th District includes the towns of DeWitt, Salina, Onondaga and parts of the city of Syracuse.
With 99 percent of votes counted, The Post-Standard was showing that Christensen had received 69 percent of the votes compared with Fitch’s 31 percent. The unofficial tally was Christensen with 32,220 votes to Fitch’s 14,525.
Christensen’s victory was a small part in an election that saw several Democrats sweep into power, including the presidential win by Barack Obama. “I’m definitely looking forward to the next four years with Obama as my president,” she said. “This is the change we needed.”
At the polls earlier on Tuesday, many voters cited Christensen’s party affiliation as the most important thing for them.
“I voted Democratic down the line,” Mark Chapot of DeWitt said. “I haven’t really heard anything bad about Christensen so I guess she’s doing a decent job.”
First-time voter, Kim Wolfe agreed with Chapot, “I went straight down the Democratic line,” she said.
Back at the Onondaga County Democratic watch party Tuesday evening, Christensen was busy celebrating and giving high fives and hugs to supporters. Said Christensen: “This is truly spectacular.”
(Ashley Pettigrew is a senior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and policy studies.)
-30-
