Mayoral elections in Syracuse, New York

Elections are held in Syracuse, New York to election the city's mayor. Currently, these elections are regularly scheduled to be held once every four years, with the elections taking place in the off-year immediately after United States presidential election years.

Elections before 2009

2009

2009 Syracuse mayoral election

November 3, 2009
 
Candidate Stephanie Miner Steve Kimatian Otis Jennings
Party Democratic Republican Conservative
Popular vote 11,237 8,783 2,313
Percentage 50.3% 39.3% 10.4%

Mayor before election

Matt Driscoll
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Stephanie Miner
Democratic

The 2009 Syracuse mayoral election was held on November 3, 2009. The incumbent mayor, Democrat Matt Driscoll, was term limited. Democrat Stephanie Miner defeated Republican Steve Kimatian, 50%-39%, and Conservative Party of New York candidate Otis Jennings finished a distant 3rd, with 10% of the vote.[1] Miner became the city's first female leader.[2]

Candidates

  • Alfonso Davis – Democratic political consultant
  • Carmen Harlow – former Syracuse Department of Public Works deputy commissioner
  • Stephanie Miner, Syracuse Common Councilor-at-Large[3]
  • Joe Nicoletti – business development consultant, former New York State Assemblyman and Syracuse Common Councilor
Withdrew

Results

2009 Syracuse Democratic mayoral primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Stephanie Miner 4,040 44.4
Democratic Joe Nicoletti 3,240 35.6
Democratic Alfonso Davis 1,021 11.2
Democratic Carmen Harlow 793 8.7
Majority 800 8.8
Turnout 9,094 100

Candidates

Results

Steve Kiatian defeated Otis Jennings. Jennings had carried the endorsement of the local Republican Party organization.[3]

2009 Syracuse Republican mayoral primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Kimatian 1,645 56.4
Republican Otis Jennings 1,271 43.5
Majority 374 12.9
Turnout 2,916 100

Conservative nomination

  • Otis Jennings, after receiving an overwhelming endorsement from the Syracuse Republican Party, Jennings lost in the September primary for the Republican nomination.[3] Days after the primary, he decided to continue campaigning, and received the nomination from the Conservative Party of New York.[5]

General election

The general election took place on November 3, 2009.

2009 Syracuse mayoral election[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Stephanie Miner 10,904 46.3%
Working Families Stephanie Miner 916 3.9%
Total Stephanie Miner 11,820 50.2%
Republican Steve Kimatian 7,860 33.4%
Independence Steve Kimatian 1,377 5.8%
Total Steve Kimatian 9,237 39.2%
Conservative Otis Jennings 2,448 10.4%
Write-ins 55 0.2%
Majority 2,583 11%
Turnout 23,560 100%

2013

2013 Syracuse mayoral election

November 5, 2013
 
Candidate Stephanie Miner Ian Hunter Kevin Bott
Party Democratic Conservative Green
Popular vote 11,000 2,489 2,405
Percentage 68.13% 15.42% 14.90%

Mayor before election

Stephanie Miner
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Stephanie Miner
Democratic

The 2013 Syracuse mayoral election was held on November 5, 2013, in Syracuse, New York. The incumbent mayor, Democrat Stephanie Miner, ran for re-election. She defeated Conservative candidate Ian Hunter and Green Party candidate Kevin Bott, winning 68% of the vote.[7][8] The Republican Party did not field a candidate in this election, the first time in over a century that a Syracuse mayor ran unopposed by a major party candidate.[9]

Candidates

Results

2013 Syracuse Democratic mayoral primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Stephanie Miner (incumbent) 3,860 54.04%
Democratic Patrick Hogan 2,047 28.66%
Democratic Alfonso Davis 1,221 17.09%
Write-ins 15 0.21%
Majority 1,813 25.38%
Turnout 7,143 100%

Conservative

  • Ian Hunter – project manager

Hunter collected signatures to run on the Republican line but was kept off of the ballot by the efforts of the Onondaga Republican Party chairman.[14]

Green

  • Kevin Bott – non-profit director[15]

General election results

The general election took place on November 5, 2013.

2013 Syracuse mayoral election[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Stephanie Miner (incumbent) 9,805 60.73%
Independence Stephanie Miner (incumbent) 617 3.82%
Working Families Stephanie Miner (incumbent) 578 3.58%
Total Stephanie Miner (incumbent) 11,000 68.13%
Conservative Ian Hunter 2,489 15.42%
Green Kevin Bott 2,405 14.90%
Write-ins 252 1.56%
Majority 8,511 52.71%
Turnout 16,146 100%

2017

2017 Syracuse mayoral election

November 7, 2017
 
Candidate Ben Walsh Juanita Perez Williams
Party Independence Democratic
Popular vote 13,584 9,701
Percentage 53.21% 38.00%

Mayor before election

Stephanie Miner
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Ben Walsh
Independent

The 2017 mayoral election in Syracuse, New York was held on November 7, 2017, and resulted in the election of Ben Walsh, an independent, to his first term as mayor.[17]

Background

Incumbent mayor Stephanie Miner, a member of the Democratic Party, was first elected in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013, but was term limited in 2017.[18][19] Syracuse last elected a Republican Party mayor in 1997, and in the 2013 election Republicans did not field a candidate.[20]

Democratic primary

2017 Syracuse Democratic mayoral primary[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Juanita Perez Williams 4,421 51.72%
Democratic Joe Nicoletti 2,958 34.60%
Democratic Martin Masterpole 828 9.69%
Write-ins 341 3.99%
Total votes 8,548 100%

General election

Five candidates appeared on the general election ballot: Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins, who had run for office 20 times since 1991; Democratic Party nominee Juanita Perez Williams, the city's former corporation counsel; Independence Party, Reform Party and Upstate Jobs Party nominee Ben Walsh, a business development director and the son of U.S. Representative James T. Walsh; Republican nominee Laura Lavine, a former Lafayette School District superintendent; and Working Families Party nominee Joe Nicoletti, who remained on the Working Families party line after unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic nomination and did not campaign.[20][22][23][24][25][26] City auditor Martin Masterpole also sought the Democratic nomination.[27]

2017 Syracuse mayoral election[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Independence Ben Walsh 12,351 48.38%
Reform/Upstate Jobs Ben Walsh 1,233 4.83%
Total Ben Walsh 13,584 53.21%
Democratic Juanita Perez Williams 9,701 38.00%
Green Howie Hawkins 1,017 4.02%
Republican Laura B. Lavine 673 2.64%
Working Families Joe Nicoletti 305 1.19%
Write-ins 25 0.10%
Total votes 25,555 100%
Independence gain from Democratic

2021

2021 Syracuse mayoral election

November 2, 2021
 
Candidate Ben Walsh Khalid Bey Janet Burman
Party Independent Democratic Republican
Alliance Independence Conservative
Popular vote 10,987 4,923 2,144
Percentage 61% 27% 11.84%

Mayor before election

Ben Walsh
Independent

Elected Mayor

Ben Walsh
Independent

The Syracuse mayoral election of 2021 was held November 2, 2021. Incumbent Independent mayor Ben Walsh was seeking re-election to a second term in office.[29] The local committees of the Democratic, Republican, Conservative, and Working Families parties each endorsed a candidate, however the candidates who did not receive their party's endorsement could force a primary if they wished.[30][31][32]

Background

In 2017, incumbent Democratic mayor Stephanie Miner was term limited and could not seek reelection. Ben Walsh won the race to succeed her, defeating Democrat Juanita Perez Williams.[33] Walsh comes from a family of Republican politicians. He is the son of Jim Walsh, former U.S. Representative from New York's 25th congressional district, and the grandson of William Walsh, former U.S. representative from New York's 33rd congressional district and former Mayor of Syracuse.[34] However, Walsh himself is registered as an Independent, and was the first Independent elected mayor of Syracuse in 104 years.[33] Walsh ran on three ballot lines: Independence, Reform, and a new line that he created for himself, Upstate Jobs. When Walsh confirmed that he would seek re-election, he did not clarify which lines he would campaign under.[29]

Whichever lines he pursues, he will face an uphill battle to get on the ballot, due to several developments since 2017. First, the Reform Party lost automatic ballot access in 2018 after failing to surpass 50,000 votes in that year's gubernatorial election.[35] Then in November 2020, New York increased the cutoff for automatic ballot access. Previously, political parties only needed to gain at least 50,000 votes on their ballot line in a statewide election every four years in order to maintain automatic ballot access. But under the new rules, parties must at least gain either 130,000 votes or 2% of the total, whichever is higher. In addition, they must meet this threshold every two years. As a result of the increased restrictions, the Independence Party also lost its automatic ballot access after the 2020 presidential election. Parties who fail to meet the requirement can still get on the ballot via petition, but this is significantly more difficult, especially for minor parties.[36][37]

Walsh sought the endorsement of the Working Families Party, one of four parties that surpassed the threshold for automatic ballot access in the 2020 presidential election (the other three are the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Conservative Party), but did not receive it.[32][38][39] He has received the nomination of the Independence Party, but will need to collect 1,500 signatures in order to ensure that the Independence line will be on the 2021 ballot.[40][41] If Walsh cannot collect enough signatures to qualify the Independence Party for the ballot, he will need to run a write-in campaign.[40] On May 25, 2021, Walsh submitted 2,538 signatures to create a dedicated party ballot line.[42]

Democratic primary

The Onondaga County Democratic Committee endorsed Greene on February 17, 2021. 58% of the committee's members voted for Greene, while 42% voted for Bey. However, Bey chose to continue his candidacy and force a primary.[43][44][45] In order to qualify for the primary ballot on June 22, Bey and Greene must collect 300 signatures from registered Democrats.[46]

Declared
Declined

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of May 21, 2021
Candidate Total raised
Khalid Bey $25,716
Michael Greene $87,470
[55]

Results

Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Khalid Bey 2,720 49.9%
Democratic Michael Greene 2,674 49.0%
Write-in 62 1.1%
Total votes 5,456 100.0%

Republican primary

The Syracuse Republican Committee endorsed Burman as its mayoral candidate on January 21.[30] However, despite receiving her party's endorsement, Burman did not officially declare her candidacy until March 10. Babilon entered the race on March 1, declaring his intent to force a primary against Burman. The primary will be held on June 22.[56][57]

Declared
Declined

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of May 21, 2021
Candidate Total raised
Thomas Babilon $7,555
Janet Burman $6,903
[55]

Results

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Janet Burman 499 66.6%
Republican Thomas Babilon 235 31.4%
Write-in 15 2.0%
Total votes 749 100.0%

Conservative endorsement

The Conservative Party endorsed Burman as its mayoral candidate.[56]

Endorsed candidate

Independence Party

The Independence Party endorsed Walsh as its mayoral candidate on February 24. Because the party lost automatic ballot access in the 2020 presidential election, Walsh needed to collect 1,500 signatures in order to create an Independence line on the 2021 ballot.[40] On May 25, 2021, Walsh submitted 2,538 signatures to create a dedicated party ballot line.[42]

Endorsed candidate

Working Families endorsement

The Syracuse Working Families Committee chose not to endorse any candidate in the mayoral election, meaning that its ballot line would go unfilled.[39]

Endorsed candidate

Not endorsed

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of July 19, 2021
Candidate (party) Total raised
Ben Walsh (I) $277,108
Khalid Bey (D) $36,379
Janet Burman (R) $8,657
[58]

Results

2021 Syracuse Mayoral Election[59]
Party Candidate Votes %
Independence Ben Walsh (incumbent) 12,013 59.6%
Democratic Khalid Bey 5,520 27.4%
Republican Janet Burman 1,786 8.9%
Conservative Janet Burman 567 2.8%
Total Janet Burman 2,353 11.7%
Write-in 57 0.3%
Total votes 20,163 100%

Campaign websites

Notes

  1. Candidate is an Independent, but can still receive any party's nomination thanks to New York's electoral fusion system.
  2. Candidate is a member of the Republican Party, but can still seek any party's nomination thanks to New York's electoral fusion system.
  3. Candidate is a member of the Democratic Party, but can still seek any party's nomination thanks to New York's electoral fusion system.

References

  1. Vote 2009 Results – 9wsyr.com Archived 2009-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Syracuse elects Miner as next mayor; she becomes City Hall's first woman in top job.
  3. "Syracuse Mayoral Primary Results – 9wsyr.com". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
  4. Bea Gonzalez Drops out of mayoral race – Syracuse.com
  5. Jennings Continues Bid for Syracuse Mayor – News10Now.com
  6. "2009 Onondaga County Election" (PDF).
  7. "Three out of four Syracuse voters stayed home". syracuse. November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  8. "Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner wins election to a second term". syracuse. November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  9. "Republicans give Syracuse Mayor Miner free pass in November election". syracuse. September 16, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  10. "Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner calls on collective toughness of city in campaign kickoff". syracuse. January 16, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  11. "Alfonso Davis, once a 'kid from the projects,' runs for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. August 18, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  12. "Syracuse Councilor Pat Hogan to announce he's running for mayor". syracuse. May 31, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  13. "2013 Onondaga County Primary Election" (PDF).
  14. "Live chat: Ask Ian Hunter about his Conservative Party race for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. September 19, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  15. "Green Party's Kevin Bott kicks off campaign for Syracuse mayor Wednesday". syracuse. September 9, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  16. "2013 Onondaga County General Election" (PDF).
  17. McMahon, Julie (November 8, 2017). "Ben Walsh elected Syracuse mayor". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  18. Breidenbach, Michelle (November 5, 2013). "Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner wins election to a second term". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  19. Weiner, Mark (June 18, 2018). "Stephanie Miner to run for NY governor as independent". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  20. Carlson, Chris (November 8, 2017). "GOP, Laura Lavine laugh off one of their worst Syracuse mayoral showings in history". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  21. "The Election Book: Onondaga County Board of Elections, 2017 Primary Election" (PDF). Onondaga County, New York. September 26, 2017. pp. 1–2.
  22. Mulder, James T. (September 13, 2017). "Here's the ballot for the 2017 Syracuse mayoral race". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  23. Baker, Chris (April 21, 2017). "Green Party's Howie Hawkins will make his third run for Syracuse mayor". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  24. McMahon, Julie (September 13, 2017). "Joe Nicoletti loses 3rd primary for Syracuse mayor, won't say if he'll run down-ballot". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  25. Baker, Chris (November 18, 2016). "Ben Walsh is running for mayor of Syracuse, but with which party?". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  26. Baker, Chris (September 16, 2017). "Who is Juanita Perez Williams? Syracuse mayoral hopeful thrives on proving naysayers wrong". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  27. Baker, Chris (January 27, 2017). "City Auditor Marty Masterpole, a Democrat, enters race for Syracuse mayor". Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  28. "The Election Book: Onondaga County Board of Elections, 2017 General Election" (PDF). Onondaga County, New York. December 18, 2017. pp. 57–60. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2018.
  29. "Ben Walsh to seek reelection in 2021: 'I'm going to need 6 more years'". syracuse. March 6, 2020.
  30. "Republicans pick candidate to run for mayor: 'Syracuse is sinking into a pit of garbage'". syracuse. January 22, 2021.
  31. "Who are the candidates for Syracuse Mayor?". January 25, 2021.
  32. "Walsh walks tight rope on wealth tax while wooing Working Families Party". syracuse. February 16, 2021.
  33. "Ben Walsh elected Syracuse mayor". syracuse. November 8, 2017.
  34. "Ben Walsh is running for mayor of Syracuse, but with which party?". syracuse. November 19, 2016.
  35. "Some third parties see victory in defeat". City & State NY. November 16, 2018.
  36. "Suffolk Closeup: Elections have consequences". Shelter Island Reporter. December 12, 2020.
  37. Geringer-Sameth, Ethan; Max, Ben. "Breaking Down Final 2020 Vote Tallies Across New York City". Gotham Gazette.
  38. "Walsh appeals to Working Families Party to get on November's ballot". syracuse. February 3, 2021.
  39. "Working Families Party will give its coveted mayoral ballot line to... no one". syracuse. March 11, 2021.
  40. "Mayor Ben Walsh announces reelection campaign". The Daily Orange. March 1, 2021.
  41. "Today is the official start of campaign season in Syracuse: What does that mean?". syracuse. March 2, 2021.
  42. Baker, Chris (May 26, 2021). "Ben Walsh submits 2,500 signatures to create independent line on Syracuse mayoral ballot". Syracuse.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  43. Bragg, Meghan (February 17, 2021). "Democrats choose Michael Greene as their 2021 Syracuse mayoral candidate". WSTM.
  44. "Syracuse Democrats Endorse Councilor Michael Greene for Mayor". spectrumlocalnews.com.
  45. "Syracuse Democrats headed for a two-way primary in mayor's race". syracuse. February 18, 2021.
  46. Abbott, Ellen (February 22, 2021). "Two Syracuse lawmakers to face off in Democratic primary for mayor". www.wrvo.org.
  47. Chouinard, Kyle; Hassan, Matt (December 11, 2020). "Councilor-at-Large Khalid Bey Announces His Candidacy for 2021 Syracuse Mayoral Race". www.waer.org.
  48. "City of Syracuse". www.syrgov.net.
  49. "Who is running for Syracuse mayor in 2021? Contenders emerge to challenge Walsh". syracuse. December 8, 2020.
  50. "Khalid Bey touts experience as he launches Syracuse mayoral campaign". syracuse. February 19, 2021.
  51. "City of Syracuse". www.syrgov.net.
  52. "City of Syracuse". www.syrgov.net.
  53. "City Auditor Marty Masterpole, a Democrat, enters race for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. January 27, 2017.
  54. "Walsh appoints Councilor Tim Rudd, a frequent critic, as budget director". syracuse. September 25, 2020.
  55. Kielar, Mary (May 21, 2021). "Syracuse mayor's race: Democrat Michael Greene outraised Khalid Bey more than 3 to 1". WSTM. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  56. "A second Republican emerges in race for Syracuse mayor". syracuse. March 2, 2021.
  57. Schiller, Scott Willis, Benjamin (March 10, 2021). "Republican Janet Burman Enters Race For Syracuse Mayor". www.waer.org.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  58. "Syracuse mayor's race: Ben Walsh has 100X more money than both his opponents combined". July 19, 2021.
  59. "Ben Walsh, Syracuse's first independent mayor, wins reelection for second term". The NewsHouse. November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
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