By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Onondaga County election results started rolling in later than usual, reportedly due to technical difficulties on the part of the local voting machines.
DeWitt
With 3,869 votes, Ed Michalenko was re-elected as DeWitt’s town supervisor over challenger Brian Schultz, who received 2,859 votes.
“I very much would like to thank the voters of DeWitt for the support,” Michalenko said. “I greatly appreciate their confidence in me, and I will continue to dedicate myself and work towards building a community where people want to live, worship, work, shop and recreate.”
Michalenko ran on the Democratic and Working Families lines, while Schultz ran on the Republican, Conservative and Independence tickets.
Angela Epolito, David Gideon and Rocco Conte were re-elected as town clerk, town justice and highway superintendent, respectively, in uncontested races.
Incumbents Karen Doctor, Kerry Mannion and Sam Young also faced no challengers in their returns to their town councilor seats.
Manlius
Edmond Theobald held his seat as Manlius’ town supervisor after running uncontested on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.
“This was a very close election and both sides worked very hard to get their messages out to the voters and why they should vote for them as Town Board members,” Theobald said. “So, now we go forward and work together with different ideas and priorities which are most important to our taxpayers. As the board has always done regardless of which party was in the majority, we should maintain a strong and fiscally responsible budget where we continue to provide the quality of services deserving to our residents while still keeping our town taxes under control.”
Allison Weber, Salvatore Pavone and Robert Cushing were re-elected town clerk, town justice and highway superintendent, respectively, with uncontested campaigns.
Heather Waters (4,952 votes), Elaine Denton (4,929 votes) and John Deer (4,712 votes)—who all ran on the Democratic and Working Families tickets—were elected to the Manlius Town Board.
Winning over Republican and Conservative Party-supported Sherene Pavone’s 4,541 votes, Democrat Katelyn Kriesel was voted in with 4,951 to fill a town councilor vacancy.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to serve a community I love,” Waters said. “We won’t stop engaging others, and we won’t stop trying to collaborate with others.”
Waters said that the “vision” and “groundwork” of Mark and Cheryl Matt as well as those behind the Manlius Democrats and endorsements helped the Democratic slate’s victory.
“I am honored to be elected by the residents of the Town of Manlius to represent them,” Denton said. “Heather, Katelyn, John and I look forward to making sure their voices are heard at the local level.”
Kriesel said being elected to public office, and having the opportunity to serve her community, is “truly a dream come true.”
“Manlius is an incredible place to live and raise a family, but it could be even better,” Kriesel said. “I am so grateful that voters have given me the opportunity to implement economic development initiatives for our villages, to integrate biking and walking into our transportation, to bring solar energy to our town, and so much more.”
First-time candidate Lourdes Rosario received 4,278 votes on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.
Both candidates on the Republican, Conservative and Independence tickets, incumbents John Loeffler and Nicholas Marzola will be replaced in their roles as town councilors, falling short with 4,614 and 4,519 votes respectively.
“I am grateful to the citizens of the Town of Manlius to have given me the opportunity to serve as their Town Councilor over the last several years,” Loeffler said. “I am proud of our town’s achievements and record of success in fiscal management and delivery of government services.”
Loeffler said he wishes the newly elected town councilors success in “understanding and meeting the top priorities” of the Manlius community.
“I have cherished my town board service and am certainly disheartened to be leaving, yet I stand proud of our many accomplishments,” Marzola said. “We have a fiscally strong town, an accredited police department [and] exemplary highway and recreation services, with great employees focused on quality. With that strong base and nurturing, our town’s future glows bright.”
County elections
The results of the county-wide races have been released. At press time, however, these tabulations do not include absentee ballots, which have not yet been counted.
Incumbent Ryan McMahon hung onto his title of Onondaga County Executive, with 54,846 votes over challenger Tony Malavenda’s 45,609 votes.
William Fitzpatrick was re-elected as district attorney, with 53,512 votes over the 38,877 earned by Chuck Keller and the 8,521 earned by Gary Lavine.
Marty Masterpole unseated Matt Beadnell from the county comptroller seat with 51,433 votes over Beadnell’s 47,812.
Lisa Dell won the race for county clerk, receiving 50,959 votes as opposed to Mark Kolinski’s 46,526 votes.
Running on the Democratic and Working Families party lines, Mary Kuhn came out on top in the race for legislator in the seventh district with 3,157 votes.
Kuhn won the legislature seat after racing against Conservative Daniel Carroll (286 votes) and Courtney Hills (2,251 votes), who ran on the Republican, Libertarian and Independence lines.
The seventh district includes DeWitt and East Syracuse in its jurisdiction.
Kevin Holmquist reclaimed his legislature seat for the 10th district, running on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.
With 4,448 votes, Holmquist’s campaign defeated that of Democratic and Working Families-supported candidate Mark Matt, who garnered 4,128 votes.
The 10th district covers the majority of the town of Manlius.
In the 11th district race for legislator, John McBride—supported by the Republican, Conservative, Libertarian and Independence parties—won with 3,701 votes against the 3,091 earned by Irene Workman, who ran on the Democratic and Working Families lines.
The 11th district includes the town of Onondaga, parts of Camillus and the Onondaga Nation.
Linda Ervin was re-elected after running unopposed on the Democratic and Working Families lines for legislator in the 17th district, which covers the southeastern portion of the city of Syracuse and part of the southwestern side of DeWitt.
