Ask the Experts : What will it take for a Republican to become mayor of Syracuse?
Steve Kimatian surprised Syracuse with his upset win over Republican designee Otis Jennings in the mayoral primary Tuesday night. Kimatian won Jennings’ home district, in addition to ten other regions, and garnered 1,624 votes to Jennings’ 1,271. Kimatian, who had never run for an elected position and whose campaign was largely a grassroots effort, is running on the Independent Party’s line.
While Kimatian spent only $33,973 on his campaign, Jennings had $137,781 in campaign funds. Kimatian received nominations from the Syracuse City Republican Committee, Onondaga County Republican Committee, Syracuse City Conservative Committee and State Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse.
Democratic designee Stephanie Miner, who is vying to become the first female mayor in a major city in New York, snagged 4,040 votes to defeat Joe Nicoletti, a former city councilor and state assemblyman, by a margin of 800. Miner will also run on the Working Families Party’s line in November.
Miner declined to comment on Kimatian’s upset, and was not visibly shaken by Kimatian’s victory. She said she would hit the ground running Wednesday and intended to reconcile with Democrats who voted for Nicoletti or one of her other two opponents, Alfonso Davis, a political consultant, and Carmen Harlow, a former Syracuse city employee.
Although Kimatian pulled off an upset win within his own party, some predict he will have a much more difficult time defeating Miner in the predominantly Democratic city of Syracuse. Matt Driscoll, a Democrat, has served as mayor for two terms, beating out strong Republican candidates in each election.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in Syracuse by nearly four to one. Going into Tuesday’s primary, there were 38,863 Democrats registered in Syracuse compared to only 12,980 Republicans.
This week, the question for the experts is, ‘What will it take for Steve Kimatian to win in the heavily Democratic city of Syracuse?’
Meet the Expert: Robert McClure, Chapple Family Professor of Citizenship and Democracy and professor of political science and public affairs
‘Probably lots of luck and lightning to strike.’
Meet the Expert: David Bennett, history professor
‘More votes, obviously. Syracuse is a troubled community that has been suffering from a population decline in recent years. We need a candidate with new and vigorous ideas, and both of this year’s candidates seem really energetic and are bringing fresh ideas about moving Syracuse into the next decade. It will be an interesting race ultimately determined by whether or not the Republican candidate can prove reliability.’
Meet the Expert: Kristi Andersen, political science professor
‘It will take a huge mistake by Stephanie Miner. It’s going to be very hard for Kimatian to win.’
Meet the Expert: Danny Hayes, assistant professor of political science
‘In mayoral elections there will not be a whole lot of news coverage, and the people who do vote are fairly partisan. That means that people are going to vote along party lines unless they can be compelled to do otherwise, which puts the Republican candidate at an automatic disadvantage. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but in the areas of job, crimes and safety, Kimatian has to convince voters that his ideas are better than Miner’s, which ultimately will be very difficult.’
Published on September 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm
