Welcome back to Wonky Wednesday. Each week I do a deep dive into the election and registration data that makes up the electoral landscape of our home, Onondaga County. I hope by looking into this data we can glean that this everchanging county is not monolithic as once thought and competition for Democrats, and all registrations, can be found everywhere. This week I investigate the Town of Pompey.
The Town of Pompey sits on the eastern border of Onondaga County just south of Manlius and north of Fabius. The northern portion of the town has larger housing developments whereas the southern portion of town is more rural with agrarian and larger single more affluent housing plots of land. Pompey is not split up by County Legislative districts and has no villages. We will be looking at the 6 Election Districts that divide up the town.
The overall population of the town of Pompey is definitely in the smaller side but it is growing. General population shifts and more housing could be part of the growth. Just as likely are the easier voter registration tools since 2016 allowing some of the population to stay registered and active. 2020 saw a huge registration surge in this town as well which is typical for a Presidential year.
The current registration of the Town of Pompey shows a solid GOP town. Republicans make up 37% of the town with Democrats at 29%. Non-enrolled (BLK) voters makeup 26% of the town. The two Election Districts are not quite equal in size. The 6 election districts in the town of Pompey are oddly drawn but not overly unbalanced in the voter population.
Pompey is a smaller town but there appears to be some changes happening in the partisan population. Pompey’s GOP population has been relatively stable. However since 2016 the Democrats and Non-enrolled have been gaining steadily and cutting into that plurality. Since the GOP is remaining stable this could be new moves and younger residents enrolling as Democrats and non-enrolled rather than massive party switches or population change.
The election districts in Pompey provide an example of the dichotomy of this changing town. ED 3,4, and 6 share borders with the emerging Democratic stronghold of Manlius. These eds while not overly Democratic at least are competitive enrollment wise. The other EDS have more in common with other border towns like Lafayette and Fabius. It is likely the differences in these areas will continue to grow if current demographic trends are to be believed. The more suburban areas of Pompey continue to get bluer as the rural areas stay red or get redder.
The significant six races provide some evidence that the growing dichotomy of the town presents some opportunities for Democrats under the right circumstances. In 2019 the County Executive, County Clerk, and County Comptroller had solid margins of victory in this town. However Democrats were able to take advantage of a GOP civil war and win control of the Town Board and put a Democrat in as Supervisor. The same dynamic happened in 2020 with Congress and State Senate breaking for the GOP but Biden winning the town for President. While there is a conservative lean to this town they will reject more Trumpian leans of the party if there is a coalition of Democrats and Non-enrolled working together.
The Town of Pompey Democrats nominates their candidates by caucus. They will elect their Supervisor and two town councilors in 2021. If you are interested in getting involved or running for office contact Pompey Town Democratic Chair Victoria Lightcap at victorialightcap@gmail.com
Dustin M. Czarny 