Welcome to Wonky Wednesday.  Each week I dive into the registration and election data that makes up the electoral landscape of Onondaga County.  Today I take a look at the Town of Elbridge.  This is the first small rural town I have looked in this series.  It sits in the west portion of Onondaga County.  Despite being a mostly urban town, it contains two villages, Jordan and Elbridge.  It should be noted that the village of Elbridge just moved their elections to the fall November calendar.  Both villages elect their candidates traditionally without party activity.

Elbridge has seen a decent jump in voter registration for the Presidential year.  Unlike other towns this was not a result of a four year build since 2016 but a one year jump.  While we will have to wait for census data to be sure, this is most likely a jump in presidential voters rather then a significant population shift.

The Town of Elbridge is a reliably Republican town.  In fact the Democratic party didn’t even have committee members until recently.  While there have been Democrats on the party line in the past, it was mostly a result of disaffected Republicans using the Democrat line.  Elbridge is not split by legislative districts, it wholly resides in OCL 13.  Further their town elects all candidates town wide.  However it does have 5 nearly equal in size (in terms of registered voters) election districts we can look at.

Elbridge is one of the few towns in Onondaga County that the GOP is holding steady in.  Since 2009 the GOP advantage has stayed strong in this town.  Though the Democrats did see some gains since 2016, the GOP has matched or exceeded them.  The Non-enrolled voter has actually at times surpassed the Democratic enrollment numbers.  This happened again in 2020 which seems to point to the new registrations being more of a mix of GOP presidential only voters as well as non-enrolled swing voters.

None of the election districts in Elbridge have a more Democratic bend then the others.  Even the villages of Jordan (ED 2) and Elbridge (ED 5) are solidly GOP districts though Democrats do outnumber Non-enrolled in those more urban settings.  EDs 1, 3, and 5 are the more rural portions of the town and are also in more GOP control with non-enrolled voters eclipsing GOP.

With the solid GOP enrollment numbers it is not surprising that the “significant six” races we are looking at all are overwhelming Republican results.  It is one of only 5 towns that Biden lost in Onondaga County, as well as every other race.  There is a weird anomaly in this town, its one of the only ones where County Executive Ryan McMahon performed worse then Lisa Dell and Matt Beadnell in 2019.  It could be an anomaly but it could also indicate a more hardcore Trump vote here that rejects more mainline GOP candidates.

The key to any success Democrats may have in Elbridge will be to forge political alliances with more conservative non-enrolled members and rally around local governance issues.  In 2021 the Supervisor, Clerk, Highway Superintendent, and 2 Town Councilors are up for election.  A new Elbridge Democratic Committee is being formed but it is in its infancy.  Anyone wanting to get involved should contact OCDC Town Chair Denise Baker at  deenisebaker@aol.com.

Welcome back to Wonky Wednesday.  Each week I take a deep dive into the registration and election data that makes up the landscape of Onondaga County.  This week I take a look at the most Democratic town in Onondaga County, the Town of Dewitt.  Every member of the Town Board, the Town Clerk, and the Town Supervisor is held by Democratic lawmakers.  It is also the most carved up Town in Onondaga in terms of County legislature seats.

The Town of Dewitt has experienced the typical growth in registered voters large towns have seen in Onondaga County.  Don’t be fooled though by the slight decrease in 2021 as we just finished our National Change of Address which reduced the number of active voters county wide.  By the end of the year the Town of Dewitt should either catch or exceed its 2020 record registration.

Not surprising the town of Dewitt has a large Democratic plurality.  In fact the GOP is now out numbered by the non-enrolled voters.  The Town of Dewitt is the most Democratic municipality outside the City of Syracuse.  That is not all they have in common.  Dewitt is broken up into four county legislature districts.  That is also the most county legislature districts for any municipality outside the City of Syracuse.  

Dewitt has been a solid Democratic plurality for a long time. In Dewitt Democrats have steadily increased their plurality.  Unlike in other areas of Onondaga County this is not just a case of Democrats increasing the GOP has steadily lost numbers and percentage of voters.  In fact in 2019 the non-enrolled voter population overtook the GOP and has increased its lead over the GOP.

The four county legislature districts of the Town of Dewitt are the classic examples of stacking and cracking that made up the 2010 redistricting process in Onondaga County and nationwide.  The 5th OCL is just one election district, one of the more GOP election ds, put into that weirdly shaped district in an attempt to keep it in GOP hands.  The 7th OCL went through the middle of Dewitt, it was in GOP hands for a long time as the former mayor of E. Syracuse, though the Democrats were able to flip this district in 2015.  The 17th OCL consists of some of the most democratic districts in Dewitt paired with heavy democratic districts in the City of Syracuse in attempt to stack as many Democrats into one district and keep them out of others that might turn them Democrat, specially in Dewitt.  The lower portion of Dewitt was put into OCL 12 to pair with the rural more GOP south east of the County to make a GOP district.

Not surprising the Town of Dewitt as a whole is a strong performer for Democrats.  It is the only municipality where the “Significant six” races all went Democrat (except of course the City of Syracuse).  The registration advantage and Democratic representation provides a strong toehold for any candidate running on line A.  It is also a major target for redistricting in 2020 as it was in 2010 but will be a major player in 4 different legislative race, right now equally divided between GOP and Democrats.

In 2021 The Town of Dewitt the Town Supervisor, Clerk, one Town Justice, the highway superintendent, and 3 Town Councilors are up for election.  The Town Justice and the Town Highway Superintendent are currently held by the GOP.  At least one town councilor up for re-election has said she is not running for re-election.  The Town of Dewitt Democratic committee selects candidates via caucus which can happen anytime between March and July.  If you are interested in running for any of these seats and live in Dewitt or want to get involved in the committee contact Dewitt Town Chair Max Ruckdeschel at  max.ruckdeschel@gmail.com