As the 2020 Census approached, Czarny and another advocate for nonpartisan redistricting, Susan Lerner, executive director of the good government group Common Cause New York, pushed for the citizen-led model to be adopted in Syracuse.
The Onondaga County Legislature rejected the idea. But the Syracuse Common Council voted to adopt it, and city voters approved the change in a 2019 referendum. Until then, city lawmakers drew the district boundaries themselves.
“It really is a credit to the Common Council,’’ Czarny said. “They were willing to give up power. That is not the usual scenario. And that’s commendable.’’
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“I really hope that at the end of this process, we will be saying this was the right way to do it,’’ Czarny said. “My plan is to show it to state lawmakers and say, look, 10 years from now, you should really be thinking about this.’’
Welcome back to #WonkyWednesday. Each week I take a deep dive into the electoral and registration data that make up Onondaga County and New York State. Over the next few weeks I will be investigating the City of Syracuse. Usually I dedicate #wonkywednesday articles to races happening in the current year, however there are no races in Syracuse this year. I have decided to spend the next several weeks highlighting Syracuse because an important process is underway. The Syracuse Independent Redistricting Commission will be holding 5 public meetings over the next 7 weeks to develop their draft redistricting plan. This citizen led redistricting process depends on you to give input before they redistrict the five common council districts that make up our city. At the end of this article I will post the next meeting times so you can attend.
In the 2020 Census the City of Syracuse was reported to have 148,620 in the 2020 Census. The racial makeup of the City according to the census is 48% white, 31% Black, 10% Hispanic, 7% Asian and 4% other. The City of Syracuse has not undergone redistricting since 2002. The Council failed to enact redistricting after the 2010 census. Districts should average approximately 29,700 population. This has resulted in an imbalance in the 5 common council districts. Common Council district 1 is way over populated with 33k population. Common Council District 2 is very underpopulated with just 27,183 citizens. Common Council 3 is slightly under populated with 28,932 voters. Common Council 4 (29,640 citizens) and Common Council 5 (29,717 citizens) are near the average.
The City of Syracuse has definitive Democratic partisan lean. 56% of the City of Syracuse is Democrat followed by 25% of the City Blank or non-enrolled. The GOP actually comes in a distant 3rd with just 13% of the registered voters. As far as registered [population, the current registration only 58.9% of the 18 over population. Much of the unregistered in the city though may not be able to register with a high concentration of the non-citizen population. Also students at SU and Lemoyne who may be registered at their home address. When we look at the common council districts we see that population sometimes corresponds with registered voters. Average for 68,922 voters is 13,784. Though CC 1 is the most populous district, it is middle of the road in registered voters at 14,079. CC2 though is lagging in registered voters as it is in population at just 11,920 voters. CC 4 is of average population but under registered at 12,310 voters. CC 5 and CC3 are actually over the average for registered voters both topping 15k.
Democratic domination of the City of Syracuse in registered voters is not a new phenomenon and it is only getting worse over time. Democrats have stayed about even in raw registration numbers with a small loss of 372 voters since 2009. Republicans have lost 4050 voters since 2009. The story that seems to be told in the City of Syracuse may be the rise of non-enrolled voters. They have gained 759 voters since 2009 and well distanced themselves from the GOP cementing 2nd place. While the Non-enrolled are gaining on the Democrats it will still be a long time, if ever, they will catch up as they are less than half the current enrolled Democrat number.
As we can see the district breakdowns reflect the city as a whole. Last year for only the second time in City history, Democrats won every district seat on the Syracuse common council. The districts vary in Democratic advantage but all are solidly blue. Even the last district that was in GOP hands, District 1, has a 3 to 1 advantage for the Democrats. In every district the non-enrolled outpace the GOP by a wide margin.
For our #wonkywednesday articles this year we will be using 5 races to compare how the subjects of our articles perform. We will be using the Presidential, State Senate, and Congressional races to see how our subject performs in a high turnout federal year. We will also use last year’s Supreme Court Race for a base on how the voters in the district react in a low turnout year. For the City of Syracuse I am including last year’s mayoral race as well. The City of Syracuse performs for the most part how you would expect the registration to perform. Biden won by over 55% in 2020 in the City of Syracuse. The NYS Senate races also did very well combining for an over 48 point margin in 2020. Dana Balter had nearly a 40 point margin out of the city, though 5 more points were wasted on the WFP line. Anthony Brindisi in a GOP friendly year still managed a 45 point victory out of the city. Given all that it makes Walsh’s victory in 2021 even more impressive. His 3rd party run had a 32 point victory in 2021 winning with well over a majority of the vote.
The City of Syracuse Independent Redistricting Commission will meet 5 times over the next seven weeks to hear from the public on what they want from their new districts. They will be holding hearings at each of the city high schools. The first redistricting hearing will be at 4pm Friday March 18th at ITC High School at 4pm. The next four meetings will be March 26 PSLA at Fowler High School 7pm, April 7 at Henniger High School at 7pm, April 24th at Corcoran High School at 4pm, and April 28th at Nottingham High School at 7pm. You can give testimony about what you would like to see in your city for the next ten years.
Over the next few weeks we will delve into each of the 5 current districts starting with Common Council district 1 next week.
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From Your Local Election Headquarters, villages across Central New York are holding elections Tuesday. Seven villages have opened the polls. Dustin Czarny, the Onondaga County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner, joined NewsChannel 9 to talk about the big day.
Village elections are Tuesday March 15, 2022 in 7 villages in Onondaga County. Villages of Baldwinsville, Fabius, Jordan, Minoa, & Marcellus are having elections run by their village clerks, Polls are open Noon to 9pm. Villages of Fayetteville & Manlius are run by the Onondaga County Board of Elections polls are open 6am to 9pm Elections will be at your village hall. Go vote if you are in those villages on March 15, 2022.
Welcome back to #WonkyWednesday. Each week I take a deep dive into the electoral and registration data that makes up our home of Onondaga County. My hope is by understanding these data points we can appreciate the many facets of election administration and voter participation. This week I am investigating the village elections that the Onondaga County Board of Elections runs this March. On March 15th seven different villages will hold elections but only two are contested and run by the Board of Elections. So, this week I will focus on the villages of Fayetteville and Manlius.
The Village of Fayetteville has a population of 4,225 in the 2020 US Census. It also has 3228 active registered voters as of the February 21, 2022, enrollment. It traditionally has held elections in March on even years. The Board consists of four trustees elected on four-year terms and an elected mayor. Up this year are two trustees to be elected on March 15th, 2022.
The village of Fayetteville is reflective of the overall trends we have seen in the Town of Manlius. A growing Democratic population that is starting to change the make-up of the electorate around it. Fayetteville village elections are traditionally non-partisan, but that is not a legal prohibition. This year the Town of Manlius Democratic committee has decided to field candidates in the village elections here, and you can see why. Democrats have a large plurality of voters at 41% of village makeup. Republicans are at 27%, just ahead of non-enrolled (BLK) at 26%.
The village of Fayetteville is made up of five different election districts from the Town of Manlius. EDS 5,7,8,17, and 21 are contained inside the village of Manlius borders. As we can see above the Democrats dominate every Election District. Two Election Districts of note are eds 5 and 21 on the West side of Fayetteville. In these EDs non-enrolled voters overtake the GOP indicating a more left leaning electorate there than the rest of the village.
The Village of Manlius has a population of 4,662 in the 2020 US Census. It also has 3170 active registered voters as of the February 21, 2022, enrollment. It traditionally holds elections for the village offices in odd number years. However due to a retirement they are holding an election this March. On the ballot is a to-fill-vacancy spot for Manlius Town judge.
The Village of Manlius, like Fayetteville, has a decided Democratic lean. 38% of the registered voters are registered Democrats. The GOP is at 28% and just five voters ahead of the BLK or non-enrolled vote which is at 27%. Here the Non-enrolled are ever closed to overtaking the Democrats, just five voters behind. We can see now why the GOP so adamantly worked to excise this village from the new OCL 10 in the new County leg maps.
The Village of Manlius consists of four election districts. Election District 14,20,23, & 27 that are contained inside the village. Once again, we see that Democratic enrollment is dominant in each of the election districts. The western most districts, Eds 14 & 27 show a more left leaning edge as the non-enrolled outnumber the GOP registration.
The Democratic candidates for Fayetteville and Manlius are:
Dustin Czarny, the Democratic elections commissioner for Onondaga County, was one of the dozen commissioners who signed the letter and watched that election unfold from the neighboring district. “One of the most frustrating things that I have to do as an election commissioner is invalidate a ballot for any reason,” Czarny told City & State, saying he would watch sometimes “in horror” at what was going on next door. “This remains one of the last areas where we can fix this, and come more in line with how other states deal with these ballots.”
In This week’s Commissioner in a Car I talk about the March 8th absentee deadline for the 7 villages having elections in March: Fayetteville & Manlius run by the Board of Elections and Baldwinsville, Fabius, Marcellus, Minoa, & Skaneateles. I also talk about the release of registration data by the State Board of Elections today and how it affected Congress, State Senate, and Assembly.
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A special Friday Commissioner in a Car I talk about the legislation passed by the NYS Senate Elections Law Committee last Monday, give you a day by day breakdown of some of the important events at the NYS Elections Commissioner Association Training Conference, and give you an update on the litigation with the NYS Senate and Congressional maps. Enjoy.
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In the first seminar of 2022 I go over the various ways to get on the ballot and the offices that are standing for election in 2022. The petition season kicks off March 1, 2022 and the election will be underway! Get all the information here!
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In this week’s Zoom with Czarny I sit down with Casey Cleary and Mark Matt who are running for Village of Fayetteville trustee. We talk about village government, why they are running, what they hope to do in office, and the challenges of running in a March election. I hope you enjoy.
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