Think about it as Democracy at Work. Come November, voters here have their greatest number of choices for the Onondaga County Legislature in more than 25 years.
Consider these numbers in the election for Onondaga County Legislature:
- All 19 seats are up for re-election.
- Of those 19 seats, 17 have races with more than one candidate.
- Three of those are what’s called “open” – meaning a wide-open choice for voters because there’s no incumbent running for re-election.
- All of these contested races give voters their highest number of choices since 1981.
Steve Kulick was the chair of the Onondaga Citizens League report in 2004 on political participation in Onondaga County. He says contested races will be good for the community:
It is extremely important for the system, for our community, for any community and for the democratic process in general. I think it does not serve our community well when we have races where incumbents return to office year after year without opposition. [Steve Kulick]
Contested races matter because of what the county legislature does. It controls taxes. Approves the budget. Paves the roads. Funds the schools. Pays for police protection. It touches many aspects of our lives.
With all those districts contested, the legislature is also up for a potential change in party control. Republicans have long dominated in the legislature. But the Democratic party has seen gains in voter registration in the county. And now the Democrats are fielding 11 challengers to Republican incumbents. That’s a big change in a short time. In the 2003 county elections, only 6 of the 19 races were contested.
Political scientist Bob McClure is the Chapple Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. McClure says the increase in candidates is good for voters.
At the very heart of what democratic politics is all about is that voters have a choice about who represents them. The most fundamental way that opportunity get, that requirement gets expressed is if they have a choice when they get to the polls. [Bob McClure]
The election is November 6.
For Democracywise, I’m Richard Zussman.
(Richard Zussman is a graduate student in broadcast journalism)
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