Several Republican candidates in Onondaga County never came down to their own election watch party in the Embassy Suites ballroom on Tuesday night. They watched the results from upstairs in the hotel. Before polls closed, Legislator Tim Burtis (R-Cicero) joked to a Central Current reporter that Republicans would do their crying upstairs before coming down to speak with reporters in the ballroom. As the results came back, suggesting a blue wave that handed Democrats a supermajority in the county legislature, the Republicans stayed upstairs.  Less than a year after Democrats took the county legislature majority for the first time in nearly five decades, they won at least 12 races Tuesday for the legislature, giving them a supermajority. Democrats declared victory in two more legislative districts, the 1st and 14th, although late mail-in votes could potentially change those outcomes.  With a supermajority for the next four years, legislature Democrats will be able to override a county executive veto on any local law or budget item.  “Democrats in Onondaga County flipped nearly a quarter (23%) of the seats which seems like the only place [in New York] that happened,” Spencer Berg, deputy clerk of the legislature, texted a Central Current reporter on Wednesday. “We clearly exceeded the trend here.” Legislature Chair Nicole Watts told a Central Current reporter that the Democrats had built a foundation this year, and that they would continue to build upon it. She had three particular goals: providing affordable housing, helping residents put food on the table, and ensuring that growth-related jobs and economic opportunities were both environmentally responsible and accessible to all residents. Watts also said she hoped to spend all the money the county has dedicated to lead remediation.  “The work that you’ve seen us doing this year is going to be continuing to be built upon into the future,” she said.  Over the last year, the Democratic majority has outlined three main priorities: housing, transparency, and transportation. They passed local laws requiring donations to organizations like Friends of the Aquarium to be reported to certain legislators, and requiring the county executive to report transfers over a certain dollar amount to the legislature.  Even without a supermajority, the Democrats worked with the county executive and were able to get funding for a major housing initiative. They created and funded of ONHOME, a limited development organization that will host a revolving no- or low-cost loan fund meant to help developers build more “missing middle” housing. That plan came out of the county’s Housing and Transportation Advisory Committee, which convened people with various forms of housing expertise – from tenant rights activists to developers – to find a solution to Onondaga County’s housing problems.  County Executive Ryan McMahon funded ONHOME with $25 million in exchange for a smooth budget process wherein legislators adjusted less than 1% of his proposed budget. The funding was made possible by a significant influx of sales tax due to Micron’s investments in the area, according to McMahon.  Watts said they would need to think through additional ways to solve the county’s continuing housing insecurity crisis.  “While building more housing does something, it doesn’t solve the whole issue,” she said. “We really need to delve deeper into that. There’s a number of housing issues that we already are aware of, and we’re unearthed through the process that we didn’t even hardly touch yet that we need to get to next year.” Some Democratic legislators have advocated for Good Cause eviction protections, though because of New York State home rule, those protections need to be adopted at the town and village levels. Having a supermajority does not give the Democrats in the legislature total control of the county government.  “The legislature cannot direct the county executive,” said Ruthnie Angrand, a spokesperson for the legislature. “So they could pass a budget, but if they don’t pass a budget in partnership with the county executive, then they don’t direct, ‘Go do this with this set of dollars.’ So that partnership is not going anywhere.”  The executive branch of government directs the implementation of laws and budgets.  Additionally, under section 608 of the county charter, only the county executive can initiate large interdepartmental budget transfers during the fiscal year. That means that the legislature’s influence over financial policy is largely limited to the fall budget cycle. At the watch party, Legislator Jeremiah Thompson joked that while the $25 million investment into housing had been great, it was “a quarter of a fish tank.” He said the county could be more aggressive in trying to put out money for people and housing.  (Angrand told Central Current that the county would try to raise more money through state matching funds and private donations for ONHOME, but would need to see what sales tax revenues were like next year before committing to similarly significant investments in specific projects. Both Angrand and McMahon have emphasized the county’s high credit rating, and say that borrowing money from the county’s nearly quarter-billion-dollar rainy day fund would hurt that rating.)  Thompson also said he anticipated the legislature would continue to prioritize food security. This year, the county made multiple bipartisan initiatives to partner with local farmers to help mitigate food insecurity problems.  Two legislature races in doubt The two legislature races whose outcomes remains up in the air involve seats that currently belong to Brian May, the Republican minority leader, and Cody Kelly, who represents the district that Micron is in. Democrats Justin Neal and Jessica Dapson, respectively, are leading in those races. Dustin Czarny, the county’s Democratic elections commissioner, said he believes both districts are likely to stay Democratic after all votes are counted, but said it could be close.  He said that it could be Thanksgiving before the election vote totals are certified and the outcomes determined. Mail-in ballots will continue to come in, with a first round of them scanned into machines next Tuesday. Military ballots could be coming in for weeks. If a hand-count were required, that could be after Thanksgiving. Republicans react to loss Republicans blamed national politics and the local Republican infrastructure for their loss.  After conceding a race for State Senate, outgoing Republican Legislator Richard McCarron said that the county Republican party would need to “look inside and try to reconnect with the public, and redefine who we are as a party.” He praised McMahon and Burtis as Republican leaders, and said it would be interesting to see McMahon’s relationship with the Democratic supermajority. He said he did not believe any “dramatic good or bad things” had happened under Democratic leadership, and said he was happy about the housing initiatives that had happened in 2026.  McCarron’s seat on the county legislature was won Tuesday night by Democrat Jessica Hackett, whose platform included expanding the social safety net and ensuring all county residents have access to potable drinking water. Burtis said he believed there was nothing Republicans could accomplish in their remaining two months with seven legislators. He said Democrats would likely feel “emboldened” and wait until they had the supermajority to begin working on their initiatives.  In a statement to the press, McMahon said he believed national politics were responsible for the county’s blue wave, and that it should not be viewed as a reflection on the progress and success which the county had seen under Republican leadership. He congratulated the newly elected legislators.  “We cannot afford to move backward, and we must continue building on the momentum that has made our community stronger, more prosperous, and better positioned for the future,” McMahon said. “I look forward to working together on our shared priorities and advancing the initiatives that will continue moving this community forward. If there is one clear message from voters, it is that the public wants progress, not partisanship. Our focus should remain on delivering results, executing on our commitments, and working collaboratively to improve the quality of life for everyone who calls Onondaga County home.” Debadrita Sur contributed reporting to this story. The post With a supermajority, county legislature Democrats to keep focus on housing, food security, equitable growth appeared first on Central Current. ...read more read less