Copyright syracuse.com
Mary Kuhn served four years as a Democrat in the Onondaga County legislature in a room with so many Republicans, their “side of the aisle” crowded six Democrats into a corner. Even when she lost her ability to stand steady on her feet, she used her voice to push back against Republican spending ideas her constituents thought were bunk. She lost every time. So it was only fitting Tuesday night that her widower would join her former colleagues at Harvey’s Garden to watch election results roll in. One after another, results showed, Democrats toppled Republican incumbents in every part of Onondaga County. Long-term legislators lost to first-time candidates – the kinds of people Dave Thomas said his wife inspired to participate in politics. “It was really touching the number of people who expressed their belief that she was either in heaven looking down, being pleased with what she saw or, more often, that she was essential in the foment that resulted in these real successful campaigns,” he said Wednesday. “That was, to me, very touching and particularly because I’ve been having a hard time.” Kuhn died at 76 in June after two years of treatment for cancer. She had stepped down from the legislature in 2023. In the two years after her retirement, Republicans boosted their majority even more. They started the day Tuesday morning with a 12-5 majority. Democrats fielded challengers in only 6 races. They all won. They ended Election Night with 10 seats on the 17 member board. Democrats have had not had a majority in the Onondaga County Legislature since 1978. The blue wave was such a surprise, party leaders wished they had put up even more challengers, Thomas said. This fall, as his wife had done so many times, Thomas went door to door on behalf of some of those candidates. On doorsteps, he heard some of the same objections his wife had railed against. Over and over, people said they opposed the Republican initiative to spend surplus county money to build an aquarium. As Kuhn and her colleagues predicted at the time, the price tag has only increased from $85 million to $100 million. “It was pretty obvious that there was widespread disinclination for that project and yet it was powered through,” Thomas said. “It’s a glaring example for people who feel that it doesn’t matter, they’re disenfranchised…The regular person, despite what they express and what they think about it, those thoughts and feelings are disregarded by their representatives.” It’s still a live topic, he said, as people watch the building go up at the Inner Harbor. At the same time, the federal government is freezing food stamps. For three years, opponents have used the price of the aquarium as an example of money that could have been better spent on social programs. On election night, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon pointed out that he won re-election in a landslide in 2023, a year after lawmakers narrowly approved the aquarium project. Thomas said there were other reasons for voters to cast ballots against the establishment. Some of it is personal – what he called misogynistic and acerbic behavior on the part of some long-time incumbents. His wife suffered that, too. “They feel like the person is not only not representing them, but that they are not nice people,” he said. “In a small town, that carries some weight. You can’t distance yourself from the way you treat people.” And to a lesser extent, in his opinion, the sudden local government blue wave is a reaction to national politics. Thomas signed up to work Tuesday as a poll worker. Turnout was not especially robust – 26% in Syracuse. But the people who showed up were eager to make a statement, he said. “God bless them because they’re interested enough to come in to vote,” he said. “But many are people are totally unfamiliar with the people who are running.” Poll workers – a split of Democrats and Republicans – have to walk a fine line. There is no politicking within 100 feet of a polling place. But sometimes people have questions. “There was one person who was struggling to get a handle on who these people are,” he said. “And one of them asked, what party is Donald Trump in? I said ‘Republican.’ That sold them on voting straight down a line.” After the polls closed, Thomas decided to go to the victory party at Harvey’s Garden. It’s a beer hall named for Harvey Baldwin – the first mayor of Syracuse. The attendees spilled over from the bigger party for Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, in a fancy downtown ballroom. Democrats had again not filled up the ballot for county legislature. People have for years thrown in the towel to Republicans. People see politics as kind of a rigged game, he said. Kuhn saw it as something worth trying and she inspired others to give it a shot, he said. She was a social worker who did not run for office until age 71. Thomas said Kuhn was “confrontative,” but without the edge he sometimes has, he said. She didn’t buy into anger, he said. Thomas does not use social media, so he does not know about the way her friends are using her image to celebrate the Democratic sweep. Kuhn does not yet have a gravesite for people to visit in honor of such a moment. She is still in the living room, her husband said. Instead, her friends are sharing a photo from her funeral program on social media as a celebration of poetic justice. In the picture, Kuhn holds a martini in her left hand. She holds up her right fist with her middle finger solidly in the air. A posthumous salute to the 2025 election.
