A huge upset may be happening in a state Assembly race, where a long-term incumbent may lose to an upstart challenger.
14-term incumbent Bill Magnarelli and Maurice Brown went to bed early Wednesday with the outcome of their primary battle uncertain. Preliminary results give Brown a slim lead of a little over one percentage point – 82 votes out of more than 6,500 votes cast.
Late-arriving absentee ballots will be counted next week. The absentee votes already counted and early votes gave Magnarelli a strong lead at first, but as votes from districts in the city of Syracuse started to come in, the lead evaporated.
It’s a stunning rebuke either way for Magnarelli, who has been the Assemblyman every year of this century. Brown was 7 years old when Magnarelli first took office in 1999. He is a county legislator and Democratic Socialist and told supporters last night that regardless of the outcome, a message has been sent.
Magnarelli’s spokesperson told WRVO that it’s too close to call and the Assemblyman will speak about the election once all the votes are counted.
Results from Onondaga County
NYS Assembly - 129th District
William Magnarelli (D) - 3,283 - 49.34%
Maurice Brown (D) - 3,365 - 50.57%
Onondaga County Legislature 8th District
Chad Ryan (D) - 847 - 57.54%
Tammy Honeywell (D) - 622 - 42.26%
Onondaga County Legislature 15th District
Bill Kinne (D) - 823 - 38.78%
Jo Bennett (D) - 1,297 - 61.12%
Onondaga County Legislature 16th District
Charlene Tarver (D) - 410 - 54.45%
Nyatwa Bullock (D) - 337 - 44.75%
Syracuse Common Council At-Large
Cjala Surratt (D) - 2,535 - 35.47%
Helen Hudson (D) - 3,815 - 53.38%
Moise Laub (D) - 778 - 10.89%
