The village of Baldwinsville elections will move from March to November starting in 2026 after one of two propositions posed in the March 19 election passed 466 to 340. Another proposition to move village elections to June failed 475 to 300.

The vote totals from the election, which included absentee ballots, are final subject to a hand count for the trustee races. According to Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny, this is done if the results are within 20 votes.

Incumbent Mayor Bruce Stebbins, who ran unopposed, received a total of 643votes. There were also 40 write-in votes.

“The turnout indicated that people were willing to vote in March if there was decision to be made,” Stebbins said. “However, according my quick math there was still only a 15% turnout or less.”

Stebbins said he was “pleased I was elected by 75% of the voters casting ballots and that two of the long-tenured trustees won their races,” adding that the board “will come together to work for the betterment of Baldwinsville.”

The three open trustee seats were won by incumbent Megan O’Donnell, with 457 votes, incumbent Michael Shepard with 417 and Donna Freyleue with 400. Also running were incumbent Joseph Cole, who received 390 votes, Brian Burmeister, who received 381 and James Miller, who received 370. There were also four write-in votes in the trustee race.

O’Donnell said she appreciated everyone who supported her.

“I’m happy to have the opportunity to serve the residents of Baldwinsville another four years,” she said. “While I’m disappointed in the results of the two propositions regarding the Election Day, I understand that having our elections in November seems like the ‘easiest’ thing for residents. I sincerely hope that we will be able to keep the influence of the major political parties out of our elections going forward.”

Miller called the election “a close race with many votes being cast for both parties.”

“I would like to first congratulate the two incumbents, Michael Shepard and Megan O’Donnell, in their re-election to the Baldwinsville Village Trustee board,” he said. “I wish them well and look forward to seeing their village improvement campaign ideas come to swift fruition for the benefit of all residents.”

Regarding the move to November for elections, Miller said, “One of the main reasons I decided to run for election, and part of our Brighter Baldwinsville platform, was to increase voter awareness and turnout for village elections.  The prior years have had woefully low turnout and that was disheartening to many.”

Miller said he believed the move “will create higher awareness, increase turnout and result in lower election costs to taxpayers.”

He said he was pleased with the voter turnout for the March 19 election.

“This is over three times the number that voted in the last trustee election,” Miller said. “When the next trustee election occurs in November 2026, we anticipate an even greater turnout and a reversal of the prior declining trend.”

Freyleue expressed sadness that her fellow Brighter Baldwinsville candidates Burmeister and Miller will not be serving on the board and called Cole an “asset to this community.”

Congratulating Stebbins, O’Donnell and Shepard on their reelections, she said, “I look forward to working with all of them … on our shared goals of making Baldwinsville a better place to live, work, visit and raise families.”

Freyleue said the near two-to-one margin in favor of moving elections to November was “due to a strong, multi-partisan coalition of voters who recognized the practical advantages of this change, weighed the pros and cons rationally and voted accordingly.”

She thanked all who had supported her through the process.

“I have no illusions that I will be an instantly transformative figure on the board,” she said. “I expect to work hard and diligently to achieve as many of my goals as I can, in the time that I will have. I join the board with all due humility and respect for my fellow trustees and with the understanding that I have a lot to learn. I will do some talking as I learn, but a lot of listening.”