Onondaga County Legislator Mo Brown has defeated Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli in the Democratic primary race for the State Assembly’s 129th district. After a counting of the vast majority of outstanding absentee and affidavit ballots, Brown declared victory and Magnarelli conceded the race.  The contest between Brown, the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist, and stalwart state lawmaker Magnarelli, a moderate, was too close to call on June 23. Brown maintained an 82-vote lead with 3,365 votes to Magarelli’s 3,283, but the candidates and their supporters had to wait a week before seeing the contents of a few hundred fateful mail-in ballots.  Vote-by-mail ballots are valid if dated June 23 or earlier and received by the Onondaga County Board of Elections by June 30.  The board of elections began counting 207 outstanding absentee and affidavit ballots (meaning votes cast by people who have moved between registering to vote and casting their vote) this morning. Dustin Czarny, the county’s Democratic Elections Commissioner, told Central Current this morning he didn’t expect to have a final result until around 3 p.m. at the earliest. But at 1:12 p.m., Brown declared victory in a statement on social media. Central Current attempted to contact Brown multiple times, but he did not respond at the time of publication. “No recount needed, our campaign is moving to the general, and I am the Democratic nominee for the 129th Assembly,” Brown wrote. “Central New Yorkers are tired of politics as usual, and today’s election results show how urgently they need a government that stands up to big money and works for them.” The election results have yet to be certified, according to Kevin Ryan, the Republican elections commissioner for Onondaga County. Although a handful of ballots remain to be counted, Ryan said, Brown has amassed an “insurmountable lead.” An aide to Magnarelli declined a Central Current reporter’s request for an interview with Magnarelli, and would not say if the Assemblyman plans any public appearances to address the public and media after losing. “It has been an honor and a privilege to represent the people of Central New York in both the Syracuse Common Council and the NYS Assembly for over 30 years. Unfortunately all good things come to an end. I congratulate Mo Brown on his win and wish him the best of luck. I want to once again thank all of my constituents who have supported me through the years. I am grateful to you all.” State Sen. Rachel May, a prominent progressive and supporter of Brown’s campaign, said she hoped that Magnarelli could offer mentorship for Brown to help prepare him to represent the people of Central New York in Albany. Magnarelli has been a dedicated public servant for a long time, May said, and she hopes that he will look to support his successor. She hoped Magnarelli would share his constituent mailing list with Brown, among other things.  “It didn’t happen in my case. We had to start from scratch. It’s not good for the people of the district,” May said. “I do think Bill genuinely cares about the people of the district, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he took that high road.” Brown is one of three Democratic Socialists who ran in CNY elections on what they called the “Affordability Slate,” which promised policies to voters aimed at combatting rising costs of living that are straining average Americans. Jo Bennett, another Affordability Slate candidate, defeated Bill Kinne in the race to replace Brown in the County Legislature’s 15th District. His supporters have routinely credited the success of his campaigns to grassroots outreach efforts through door-knocking and other canvassing efforts. Brown’s campaign held conversations with over 4,000 voters in the weeks preceding the start of early voting, according to campaign manager Aydan Whitted. Syracuse DSA member Genevieve Garcia Kendrick likened Brown’s victory to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s unlikely rise in 2018, calling it, “Central New York’s ‘Joe Crowley moment.’” The upset of an entrenched Democrat by a comparatively young progressive follows a similar trend downstate, where DSA-allied candidates routed establishment Democrats in state and federal races. The endorsement of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, gave several upstart candidates an edge over veteran lawmakers. Mamdani on Sunday told ABC News, “I think a democratic socialist can get elected anywhere across this country for any reason.” The post Maurice ‘Mo’ Brown declares victory while Magnarelli concedes in Democratic primary for Assembly seat appeared first on Central Current. ...read more read less