Longtime Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli easily beat a challenge by Republican Rick Zaccaria, holding onto his seat as the 129th District assemblyman by a margin of 18,732 to 7,262.

Magnarelli, a Democrat, has held the seat since 1998. Zaccaria has never run for office before.

“I’m very honored that my constituents have seen fit to send me back to Albany,” Magnarelli said.

He said his focus upon returning to Albany will be economic development, bringing jobs back to Central New York and improving the education system.

“I think things are getting better and I’m looking forward to working with the governor and setting the ship right,” Magnarelli said.

While he said he expected the Democrats to do well in the state assembly races, he said he felt bad for Dan Maffei’s loss to Republican challenger John Katko and “the loss of the congressional seat.”

Zaccaria said he was pleased to have brought up some important issues during the course of the campaign and hopes to run again in two years.

The 129th district includes Northside, Westside, Eastwood, Strathmore and Valley areas of the city of Syracuse, as well as the towns of Geddes and Van Buren.