TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—Sources have exclusively confirmed to The Ithaca Voice that there are a few elections this week.
Despite this surprise, The Ithaca Voice has you covered. We’ll be posting stories throughout the day and will be posting results tonight as soon as they begin to filter in, likely around 9:30 or 10 p.m.
But first, those who didn’t take advantage of early voting or mail-in voting have to head to the polls. Voting locations are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you’re not sure where to vote, you can look up your polling location here (press the address search bar in the top left, start typing your address but go slowly as the autofill feature takes a second) or here. Registered voters can also look up their location through the state Board of Elections here.
One important note for some: Voters in the City of Ithaca’s Fifth Ward (Fall Creek area) will be voting at the Ithaca Town Hall at 215 North Tioga Street because of construction at the Tabernacle Baptist Church, the normal polling place.
There’s a bunch of races up in the air this year, including for pivotal offices like New York governor, U.S. Senator, House of Representatives, Ithaca mayor and more. Here’s a summary of some of the races we’ve been following for the last several months. For more coverage, you can look at our Election 2022 landing page as well.
U.S. House of Representatives – NY19
Republican Marc Molinaro vs. Democrat Josh Riley
FiveThirtyEight rates this as a “toss-up” but gives Riley a slight advantage in the newly-drawn 19th New York Congressional District.
There’s been precious little polling available on this race, unlike some other higher profile House races around the country. The polling that has been done has shown Riley with a slight but consistent edge: two Siena College polls, one conducted at the end of September and then another at the end of October, show Riley ahead by five points in each one. That’s along the same lines as other polls late in summer, with one outlier poll by Triton Research that has Molinaro winning by 10 points. Judging by the graphic shown on the previously mentioned 538 page, this district was thought to be tilting toward Molinaro before actual polling began coming in.
New York State Senate
Republican Rich David vs. Democrat Lea Webb
David and Webb have faced off in a debate of their own hosted by WSKG. Much of this race has focused on winning Binghamton and Cortland, as Webb is nearly sure to secure most of Tompkins County considering the heavily Democratic electorate. Meanwhile, Broome County shows 36 percent Democrats and 34 percent Republicans, and Cortland County is similarly split, meaning David and Webb have spent more time jockeying over those voters. Both are Binghamton political figures, David having served as mayor and Webb having served on the Binghamton City Council.
Ithaca Mayor
This is a three-way race between incumbent Democratic Acting Mayor Laura Lewis, Republican Zachary Winn and Progressive Party candidate Katie Sims.
This promises to be an interesting race. Sims and Lewis have risen to the top of the fundraising race, as of the latest financial reporting deadline. Winn, the operator of blog Ithaca Crime, has tried to make local crime and the homeless encampment the center issues of the race, with unclear success. Meanwhile, Lewis has had to deal with a lengthy budget season that took on an unprecedented tenor last week as city employees voiced their displeasure with treatment and compensation.
While Winn is the only Republican candidate, there was still some turmoil on that side as well. Winn got William “Magic Man” Metro kicked off the Republican primary ballot, thus avoiding an actual primary. Metro is running a semi-formal write-in campaign for the office.
Considering the unorthodox situations for each candidate, and the first time in a decade voters won’t have the chance to vote for former Mayor Svante Myrick, it’s probably wise to expect quite a few write-in votes in this election.
Unfortunately, there were no debates or forums between the candidates in this race.
Proposal 2: City Manager (City of Ithaca only)
The City manager restructuring in Ithaca has certainly gained nearly universal support from selected, including most of Common Council and Acting Mayor Lewis. Critics, such as mayoral challengers Sims and Winn, have said the position would be undemocratic and take too much power out of voters’ hands.
The latest on the City Manager position, including the potential separation of duties between mayor and city manager and more detailed offers of support or opposition, here’s our most recent coverage from Monday.