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Coverage from WRVO Public Media on the 2015 election including: races in Syracuse and other parts of central New York, the Southern Tier, Watertown and the North Country, and more.Listen to WRVO online, or catch up on regional political news and more by following the WRVO news department on Twitter.

Mahoney sails to third term as Onondaga County executive

Tom Magnarelli
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WRVO File Photo
Joanie Mahoney (R) wins a third term as Onondaga County executive.

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney won re-election by more than 19 percentage points last night. She said voters want Republicans and Democrats to work together and Onondaga County is moving past the negativity of a polluted rust belt region towards a bright future.

“We really want this community to be an option for the next generation and I think we’ve moved the needle in that direction and tomorrow when we get back to work I want to continue doing what we’re doing,” Mahoney said.

Mahoney said she found it interesting how her opponent, Democrat Toby Shelley had backing from the Conservative Party while she is estranged from the hierarchy in the Republican Party. Mahoney’s election night party was in a different location than the county Republicans and Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, endorsed Mahoney the day before the election, calling her, “a tremendous leader.”

“I think people vote for the person and I think they put a lot of those labels aside,” Mahoney said.

Looking ahead, Mahoney said she wants to modernize government to make it more business friendly and perhaps get a beach on the shore of Onondaga Lake.

“People want their government to work, they don’t send Republicans and Democrats hoping we’ll just continue to fight with each other," Mahoney said. "They want us to work with each other, they want us to put the politics behind us and do the people’s business. I believe out of respect for the voters that that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Tom Magnarelli is a reporter covering the central New York and Syracuse area. He joined WRVO as a freelance reporter in 2012 while a student at Syracuse University and was hired full time in 2015. He has reported extensively on politics, education, arts and culture and other issues around central New York.