Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon defeated Democratic challenger Tony Malavenda on Tuesday night by more than 9,000 votes after counts were delayed by about an hour.

The Republican incumbent won with 55% of the vote during New York state’s 2019 general elections Tuesday. Tom Dadey, Onondaga County Republican Party chairman, announced McMahon’s victory around 11:30 p.m.

Two minutes later, dozens of supporters lined the side doorway to the ballroom as McMahon and his family walked in.

“For the last year we’ve been building partnerships,” McMahon said to the crowd. “There’s so many people to thank in this room.”

The announcement came about an hour later than originally expected. After polls closed, the Onondaga County Board of Elections announced that it was having “technical difficulties with tabulating the results” of the election.

“First thing we’re gonna do is we’re going to sit down with our board of elections commissioners and figure out what went wrong,” McMahon said.

The Onondaga County Legislature appointed McMahon in October 2018 after former County Executive Joanie Mahoney left the position to become chief operating officer at SUNY-ESF. McMahon was officially appointed to the position midterm on Nov. 1, 2018.

County and city republicans held a watch party at the Embassy Suites by Hilton near Destiny USA. More than 150 people gathered in the Syracuse hotel’s Liberty Ballroom to watch election results come in.

Rep. John Katko, State Sen. Bob Antonacci and former Syracuse University football captain J. Sam Rodgers, who is considering a state Senate run, were among the watch party’s guests. 

McMahon’s career in politics began in 2005 when he was elected to the city council. In 2012, he was elected as chairman of the Onondaga County Legislature.

More than 150 people gathered in the Embassy Suites’ ballroom to watch as election results came in. Elizabeth Billman | Asst. Photo Editor

His election campaign for county executive focused on three main subjects: poverty, infrastructure and economic development. McMahon’s platform included calls to improve waste water management, create affordable taxes and attract business to the area. 

“He did a fine job,” said Katko of McMahon’s campaign. “He ran on his record, and he’s got a lot accomplished.”

Both sides ran negative campaign advertisements at different points throughout the campaign season. An ad from Malavenda accused McMahon of being involved in a ponzi scheme. The New York Republican State Committee ran an ad accusing Malavenda of illegally collecting money from tax breaks for his company, Syracuse.com reported. 

McMahon raised a total of $800,488 in funding during his campaign, according to state election data. Malavenda, McMahon’s challenger, raised more than $75,000 during his campaign. He also donated more than $1 million to his own election efforts.

Malavenda, a Syracuse businessman, spent the last 40 years running Duke’s Root Control, a private company that removes tree roots from municipal sewers. His campaign platform was focused on fixing county infrastructure, creating economic opportunity and improving government functions.

“I certainly want to congratulate Tony Malavenda, his family and all his supporters for a hard fought race,” McMahon said during his victory speech. “We were not distracted at the end of the day.”

In his role as county executive, McMahon has supported an extension of a sales tax agreement with Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh between the city and county. McMahon’s 2020 budget proposal included creating a new county-run foster home for teens, building an Office of Diversity and Inclusion for the county and assuming control of local sewers, Syracuse.com reported.

Published on November 6, 2019 at 12:16 am

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu