By Ashley M. Casey and Hayleigh Gowans
Staff Writers
Following the results of the 2016 election, Republican Matthew Doran and Democrat Steven Dougherty have been elected to the two open Onondaga County Justice seats. The two candidates beat out Democrat Jeff Leibo and Republican Robert Coville.
The results of the election showed of the 196,451 ballots cast, 117,961 went to Dougherty, 91,496 to Doran, 69,758 to Leibo and 61,432 to Coville.
“I’m grateful to all of my friends and family who have helped get me here,” said Doran. “The next day, our journey begins. My parents always told me to treat everyone, no matter who they are, with respect and I hope that I can carry this out as a county justice.”
Doran is currently the Chief Assistant for the Onondaga County District Attorney, Homicide Bureau Chief and a member of the U.S. Navy Reserves since 1998.
Dougherty has served as a Syracuse City Court Judge since 2003. Under his direction, the city of Syracuse has developed new, specialized courts to address domestic violence, human trafficking, adolescent crime and animal cruelty. In 2014, Dougherty was promoted to Supervising City Court Judge, where he supervised his fellow eight judges and the City Court staff.
“I’ve been serving the community for 27 years and I promise to continue to do so for the next 10 years as your county court judge,” Dougherty said at the Onondaga County Democratic Committee gathering at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, formerly the Hotel Syracuse.
The term of this office is 10 years.
