Some State Senate Stuff

As many of you have noticed, I have purposely been avoiding making posts to this blog regarding the situation in the State Senate. Despite the fact that this is happening in Albany, the most dysfunctional state legislature in the country, I didn’t actually believe that the shenanigans would be going on for this long. I wasn’t planning on getting into state politics on this blog, as I meant this to have a more local focus, but the fact that this has dragged on for so long has changed my mind. I will try to report on what local senators are doing as the process continues to unfold.

First, a recap: On June 8th, two unsavory downstate Democrats, both in legal troubles, switched sides temporarily to give Republicans a voting majority and ousted Senator Malcolm Smith from his position as Majority Leader. One of the wayward Democrats, Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. became President Pro-Tem and Minority Leader Dean Skelos became the new Majority Leader, or so claims the ‘coalition.’ Democrat Hiram Monserrate returned to his Democrat colleagues shortly afterward, leaving the chamber split 31-31, with each side claiming a true majority. Now the part about our local senators: Senator John DeFrancisco, a close ally of Senator Skelos, has been one of the most vocal Republicans involved in the coup, as you can see in the video below.


Senator Dave Valesky, who was the number two Democrat in the Senate under Malcolm Smith, has seen his leadership position evaporate and is none too pleased. Senator Darrel Aubertine offered a compromise plan to allow the State Senate to get some business done, even if just a single session, but it didn’t work. Governor David Paterson has been trying to resolve the issue and the New York State Supreme Court has even been involved, though there isn’t much precedent to work from. Despite everyone’s efforts, the State Senate remains deadlocked and now the Senate Democrats have taken to the airwaves attacking Republican senators, as seen in the attack on Senator DeFrancisco below.


I’ll try to keep you up to date when local senators play a role in the conflict over the next few days, weeks, or however long this lasts.

Joanie's New Deputy

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney announced the appointment of William Fisher to be her Deputy County Executive upon the retirement of longtime Deputy Ed Kochian. Mr. Fisher was, until this weekend, the CEO of Summit Software Company, located in Jamesville. He also served as the treasurer of Joanie’s 2007 campaign for County Executive, led her transition team after her election, and chairs the Fresh Start PAC, Joanie’s political action committee. Best of luck to him, he has big shoes to fill.

Working Families Party Endorsements

The Working Families Party of Onondaga County released their list of endorsed candidates in county and city races. Only one Republican received an endorsement. All the rest were Democrats, though some Democrats failed to obtain support from the party.

County Legislature:

1st District: No endorsement.

2nd District: Donna Marsh O’Connor, (D).

3rd District: Ed Szczesniak, challenger, (D).

4th District: Dave Stott, incumbent, (D).

5th District: No endorsement.

6th District: No endorsement.

7th District: Tom Buckel, incumbent, (D).

8th District: Jim Ennis, challenger, (D).

9th District: Mark Stanczyk, incumbent, (D).

10th District: Ralph Jones, challenger, (D).

11th District: No endorsement.

12th District: No endorsement.

13th District: No endorsement.

14th District: Chuck Henry, challenger, (D).

15th District: Bill Kinne, incumbent, (D).

16th District: Sam Laguzza, incumbent, (D).

17th District: Marty Masterpole, incumbent, (D).

18th District: Monica Williams, incumbent, (D).

19th District: Linda Ervin, (D), open seat.

City of Syracuse:

Mayor: Stephanie Miner, (D), open seat.

Common Council President: Van Robinson, (D), open seat.

Common Councilors At-Large: Lance Denno, (D) and Jean Kessner, (D) both open seats.

Common Council, 1st District: Mike Heagerty, incumbent (D).

Common Council, 2nd District: Patrick Hogan, incumbent, (D)

Common Council, 3rd District: Ryan McMahon, incumbent, (R).

Common Council, 4th District: Tom Seals, incumbent, (D).

Common Council, 5th District: Nader Maroun (D), open seat.

With that, all five major local parties have finally announced their candidates. The Veteran’s Party, though not a recognized party with a ballot line, will likely announce support for various candidates sometime in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that. Also, the local Green Party should be announcing soon what office Howie Hawkins will be running for (rumor has it he may run for an At-Large seat on the Common Council).

Ed Kochian Retires

The Post-Standard reported yesterday that Ed Kochian, the Deputy County Executive of Onondaga County for the past 28 years will be retiring at the end of next month. He has served under three County Executives (John Mulroy, Nick Pirro and Joanie Mahoney) and has arguably been the most influential behind-the-scenes member of county government.



County Executive Joanie Mahoney told John Mariani, of the Post-Standard, that she will be announcing her choice to replace Mr. Kochian on Monday. She will likely make her pick from her inner circle. The three frontrunners for the job are Ben Dublin, Ms. Mahoney’s Director of Intergovernmental Relations (and her former campaign manager), Jim Rowley, Onondaga County CFO, and Ann Rooney, the County Administrator for Human Services.

Meet Democrat Contestant Number Five

Yet another candidate has entered the already crowded race for Mayor of Syracuse. Tom O’Hara, an area businessman, has filed his paperwork with the Onondaga County Board of Elections to become the fifth Democrat currently in the race. O’Hara works in real estate and was formerly a Telecom executive. He joins designated candidate Stephanie Miner and challengers Joe Nicoletti, Alfonso Davis and Carmen Harlow in a September primary.

Conservative Party Endorsements

Ask and you shall receive. On Monday, I lamented the fact that the Conservative Party of Onondaga County hadn’t released their endorsements and, lo and behold, the list of endorsements appeared in the Post-Standard this morning. The endorsements for County Legislature and for races in the City of Syracuse are reproduced below.

County Legislature:

1st District: Rich Lesniak, incumbent, (R).

2nd District: Bernie Kraft, incumbent, (R).

3rd District: Bill Meyer, incumbent, (R).

4th District: No endorsement.

5th District: No endorsement.

6th District: Jim Rhinehart, incumbent, (R).

7th District: No endorsement.

8th District: Jim Corbett, incumbent, (R).

9th District: Mark Stanczyk, incumbent, (D).

10th District: Kevin Holmquist, incumbent, (R).

11th District: Pat Kilmartin, incumbent, (R).

12th District: Bob Demore, incumbent, (R).

13th District: Bob Warner, incumbent, (R).

14th District: Casey Jordan, incumbent, (R).

15th District: No endorsement.

16th District: Kevin Kuehner, challenger, (R).

17th District: No endorsement.

18th District: No endorsement.

19th District: No endorsement.

City of Syracuse:

Mayor: Otis Jennings, (R), open seat.

Common Council President: No endorsement.

Common Councilors At-Large: No endorsements.

Common Council, 1st District: Matthew Rayo, challenger, (R).

Common Council, 2nd District: No endorsement.

Common Council, 3rd District: No endorsement.

Common Council, 4th District: No endorsement.

Common Council, 5th District: Tristan Daedalus, (R), open seat.

No surprise. All candidates endorsed by the Conservatives are Republicans except for one Democrat. It is interesting to see which Republicans didn’t get endorsed, however. Now if only the Working Families Party would release their full slate . . .

Obama Picks McHugh for Army Post

John McHugh has been tapped by President Obama to be the next Secretary of the Army. If confirmed, he will be vacating his congressional seat in Upstate New York. This vacancy will be filled via a special election within the next 30 to 40 days, according to state law. It would become the second special election to fill an Upstate New York congressional seat this year. The district, New York’s 23rd, contains all or part of 11 Upstate counties. Though the district normally leans Republican and McHugh has usually won re-election by large majorities, Obama won the district in the 2008 presidential election, though only by a small margin. McHugh is one of just three Republicans currently serving in New York State’s 29-member congressional delegation. As far as candidates for the special election are concerned, it is possible that history may repeat itself and State Assemblyman Will Barclay (R) and State Senator Darrel Aubertine (D) could be facing each other in a special election again, as they did in 2008 to fill a vacant State Senate seat, a race Aubertine won.

Working Families for Steph

According to a statement from Stephanie Miner’s campaign, she has received the endorsement of the Working Families Party. Add that to her Independence Party endorsement and the designation from the Democrats and you have a total of three lines that Stephanie Miner is seeking on this November’s ballot. She has three other challengers for the Democrat ballot line and perhaps one or more of them will attempt a primary on the Independence Party or Working Families Party line also. Otis Jennings received the Republican Party designation and I have heard that he (not surprisingly) has received the Conservative Party endorsement, though I have not been able to confirm that (or any other endorsements made by the Conservative Party, for that matter, though they have supposedly already selected their candidates). I suspect Otis will attempt to primary Steph for the Indy line. Who knows what Steve Kimatian is doing (or not doing)? Petitions for ballot access start circulating next Tuesday, June 9th, so let the games begin!