Onondaga County in upstate New York has gone through a lot of change in the past few decades. When manufacturing jobs left the Syracuse-area county in the early 2000s, the community, like many others along the Rust Belt, changed.
“Our community has been highly defined by [Carrier Corporation] leaving,” Onondaga County Legislator Maurice Brown (D) told Hotline. “When Carrier left, the jobs went with them. We've been a community regrowing for the past 50 years or so.”
Last Tuesday, Onondaga voters chose to change something big: Democrats flipped the county Legislature for the first time in nearly 50 years, doubling their share in the 17-person Legislature from five seats to 10.
“I was surprised at how the voters voted and what they said to us,” said Tim Burtis (R), the Onondaga County Legislature chair. “I never thought that the landscape of the Legislature would change in this fashion.”
Burtis wasn’t the only one surprised, even the winning Democrats didn’t expect their sweep.
“Blue waves have historically not really hit Onondaga County in the past,” Gregg Eriksen, a Democrat recently elected to the Legislature, told Hotline. “If there was any surprise, it would have been that we won all of them. Usually, you just don't win them all.”
While voting consistently Democratic in presidential and Senate elections in recent years, the county that was once reliably red frequently splits their tickets at the district and local level. This year broke the pattern, with a small blue wave sweeping through this historically Republican county. The main driver of the wave: President Trump and national Republicans.
“We got caught up in a blue wave, just like many places in the country. And that's kind of hard to handle because we're public elected officials, and we're used to being graded on our performance,” Burtis explained to Hotline, pointing out recent policies like tax cuts and a recent announcement that Micron Technology will be moving to upstate New York with jobs in tow.
For the most part, Brown and Eriksen both agreed with the assessment of Trump’s influence, pointing to voters’ upset at the Trump administration's actions and wanting to stand up to the president.
Though voters may have been thinking about Washington, county-level work will carry on. The county Legislature will convene with a new Democratic majority to discuss local issues like road construction, tax legislation, and how to get more business to the area. Legislators like recently-elected Chad Ryan (D), who is a funeral home director, will continue working double time with their day jobs.
“County has to continue on, win or lose,” Burtis said. “We understand we have a job to do. And I tell [my fellow Republicans] to keep their head up and let's stay on task and keep doing the work until it's the end of your time.”
Whether Onondaga County can be taken as a small bellwether of things to come or not, all politics are still local.
— Hannah Thacker
hthacker@nationaljournal.com
