Bob Andrews recalls a speech that gave him a blueprint for how he would run his political campaigns.
The speech came in the late 1990s from then-former Florida Congressman Louis Frey at Colgate University. He learned, Andrews says, that talking with members of the community was the way to run a successful campaign and job as legislator.
“That’s how I would want to go about it: is talk to people, interact with people in the neighborhoods in and in the district and its certainly the way I approach being in office now, running for office now, and being a servant, ultimately, is that approach.”
(Bob Andrews, R-Syracuse, appointed incumbent in District 9 of the Onondaga County Legislature)
This year’s District 9 race pits incumbent Republican Bob Andrews against Peggy Chase, Democratic chair of the city’s 5th Ward.
District 9 is in the center of Onondaga County, including the northeastern part of the city of Syracuse. Of the 13,517 registered voters in the district, 48 percent – or 6,514 people – are Democrats; 19 percent – or 2,616 people – are Republicans; and 25 percent – or 3,399 people – are unaffiliated with a political party.
Andrews unsuccessfully ran against 31-year incumbent Democrat Mark Stancyzk in 2011. In 2013, Stancyzk left the legislature to take a county job and County Executive Joanie Mahoney appointed Andrews to the district seat. Now Andrews must campaign again to keep that seat.
“The election process, I hope, will be something where they’ll see, now, who I am, what I am as a legislator versus a challenger, and people can vote based on that.”
(Bob Andrews, R-Syracuse)
Andrews grew up about an hour away in Rome, N.Y. He attended Colgate University where he graduated in 1995 with a degree in political science and economics. He got his MBA at Northeastern University and worked at John Hancock and Fidelity Investments until 2002, when he moved to Syracuse. Today, Andrews lives in Eastwood with his wife, Katy, and their 3-year-old daughter, Jessica. He’s been in politics all his life, from running for his high school student government to campaigning for County Executive Joanie Mahoney.
“I think my desire to help people, the community, really was the paramount desire going back a long time. That leads to ‘How do I do that? How can I do that in a more formal way?’”
(Bob Andrews, R-Syracuse)
Andrews works for Madison-Cortland ARC, a non-profit organization that finds jobs for adults with disabilities. He is the director of business development and has earned a reputation for innovation. For example, he has brought the building of elastic zip-ties, wooden spools for wiring and electronic waste recycling to the organization.
Co-worker Kim Kapfer says Andrews’ creativity will be a benefit to the county legislature.
“I think Bob has a lot of good ideas going forward — ability to look into the future and the possibilities will probably carry over into his political career.”
(Kim Kapfer, co-worker at Madison-Cortland ARC)
In his few months in the county legislature, Andrews has won praise from some fellow legislators as a hard-working businessperson who is engaged and invested in the community.
Kathleen Rapp of Liverpool, a legislator for District 5 and also a Republican, noticed Andrews’ attentiveness and perspective as a businessman.
“Like most new legislators, he’s been doing listening than talking. But he seems to have a high degree of energy and high desire to perform well. I think the fact that he is a small businessman, he brings the whole business focus, which I think can be very helpful for city residents.”
(Kathleen Rapp, R-Liverpool)
As he campaigns, Andrews says his objectives are to help end the city’s financial woes.
“Perhaps there’s a merger, some efficiencies that can be made with some that can be combined. Modernization. Some of it is already ongoing; some of it is still to be done. I’d like to look at that and make sure it’s in the interest of both parties: county and city. And that there’s a benefit to the taxpayer. A benefit doesn’t necessarily mean ‘cost less’ — it could just mean that it’s more efficient and can better serve the electorate.”
(Bob Andrews, R-Syracuse)
The election will be on Nov. 5.
Reporting for Democracywise, I’m Tyler Greenawalt.
(Tyler Greenawalt is a junior with dual majors in newspaper and online journalism and political science.)
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