It’s now clear which congressional districts Central New York voters will be in after a judge gave final approval to the redrawn maps over the weekend. A special master drew the new 22nd district to include Onondaga, Madison, and Oneida counties. Onondaga County Democratic elections commissioner Dustin Czarny says it’s fairly competitive.
"It's maybe a little bit more toward the republican side, but still a district that voted for Biden by 7 points. It's essentially ideologically the same."
Democrats Francis Conole, Chol Majok, Sam Roberts, and Sarah Klee Hood say they’re still running, as are Republicans Brandon Williams, and Steve Wells. One name missing from the GOP line-up is Claudia Tenney of New Hartford, which is now in the district. Instead, she’ll be on the ballot just to the west in the new 24th district. All but Oswego County is new territory for her.
"We'll see whether any of the republicans stay in the race up there. It is a very heavily republican district. Steve Holden is running for the democrats. Republicans seem to be coalescing behind Tenney," Czarny said.
Tenney has tweeted that she has the support of the county committees in the new district, but Czarny says it remains to be seen if voters will embrace her.
The 24th district now sweeps south from Jefferson, Oswego, and Cayuga Counties then west across the center of the state all the way to Niagara county, skipping over Monroe and part of Orleans.
Back in Onondaga County, voters might have some whiplash over changes to the state senate map and the area’s two main Senators John Mannion and Rachel May. Czarny can understand if voters might be confused.
"These are radically different senate districts than we've seen in the previous versions of any of the maps, and it's something people are still trying to wrap their head around. Both district are democratic leaning districts, but the Mannion district is more competitive, kind of like it is now, just in different areas."
Mannion’s 50th district includes Syracuse’s western suburbs and extends into northern Onondaga County and into Oswego. May’s 48th district includes the city and reaches south and west into Cayuga County. Don’t worry…voters will get informational mailers before the August 23rd congressional and state senate primary about which district they’re in.
