Sharon Owens makes history as Syracuse’s first Black mayor-elect

Syracuse voters overwhelmingly elected Sharon Owens to become the city’s first Black mayor, with 73.5% of the vote Tuesday night. 

“It’s time to get to work to make some real change in our community,” Owens told supporters in her victory speech at Palladian Hall. 

Owens, the Democratic nominee who also ran on the Working Family Party line, spent eight years as the deputy mayor to current Mayor Ben Walsh, who served two terms and is term-limited. The Syracuse University alum is just the second woman to win the office.

Owens received 73.5% of the votes — around 14,000. The runner-up, Republican Thomas Babilon, received 18.86% of the vote, and independents Tim Rudd and Alfonso Davis each sat below 4%, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections.

“I am elated. I am just so proud to be able to be a representative for just the eclectic Syracuse that we are,” Owens said after her speech. “Just the amount of young women that were walking up to me, just in tears about this moment, is amazing.”

Owens, who announced her run for mayor last year, ran on her housing-focused nonprofit work and government experience. Throughout the campaign, she championed the city’s housing issues, poverty and economic inequality as her top issues.⁠

“My background is in housing,” Owens said. “Housing, housing, housing. We’ve got a lot of housing to build. We’ve got a lot of housing to bring up to code. So that’s what I’m going to be working on.”

With the victory, Owens overcame three challengers who targeted her place in the Walsh administration. Babilon, her Republican challenger, said the city was moving in the wrong direction. Rudd called her an “administrator of the status quo.”

“I’ve been in City Hall for eight years, and so I laid out what I know that is important to the city of Syracuse and to the people here,” Owens said. “We laid out a platform and we stuck to it, I didn’t get caught up in the mudslinging, and I think people really appreciate that.”

After polls closed, Owens gave a speech at Palladian Hall at the Treasury, where the watch party was hosted. She embraced Walsh after the results were called. Other attendees at the event included Rep. John Mannion (N.Y.-22) and current Mayor Ben Walsh.

Photo by Tim Kunken

Current Mayor Ben Walsh embraces his successor Sharon Owens Tuesday night after her historical win.

Babilon held his watch party at Strada Mia 313. His attempt to become the first Republican elected Syracuse mayor since 1997 was ultimately unsuccessful.

“I wish that I could’ve convinced the Democrats that were supporting me behind the scenes to actually speak out,” Babilon told reporters. 

He added that he wished he could’ve raised more money, but still raised more than anticipated.

“We put everything into it that we had … we put it all out there,” Babilon said before the results came in. “The chips are going to fall where they fall tonight, but I’m optimistic we’re going to win.”

Babilon said he’ll go back to working at a nonprofit where he will continue doing family court appeals. But he’s not entirely closed off to future political opportunities.

“I don’t really have any political aspirations right now, but if something comes up in the future, who knows?” he said.

Davis held his public watch party in Bounce Party Supplies, located inside Destiny USA. He arrived just before polls closed at 9 p.m. Seven people came to the watch party, along with two event coordinators.

“I really think the city needs a new direction,” said Hopeton Smalling, one of the attendees. “You know whether now or in the future, whether he wins or loses. There’s still so much work to do.”

Photo by Kate Jackson

Alfonso Davis, I-Syracuse, hosted his watch party inside a supply store at Destiny USA mall Tuesday night.

Around 11 p.m., Davis ended the watch party and gave a closing speech. He said while he’s “disappointed” that the polls don’t reflect the impact of his campaign, it wouldn’t discourage him from running again. 

Rudd, the only candidate of the four not to hold an election party, watched the results from home with his family. After the results came in, he said he was concerned for the future of Syracuse and mapped out what’s next for him.

“I’m going to keep doing what I have been doing,” Rudd said. “Taking care of my family and cultivating a healthy community on my block of the southside.” 

Davis said he would support Owens as mayor and plans to reach out and congratulate her. He hopes she takes some of his policies into consideration.  

“I want her to be successful because I want my city to be successful,” Davis said. 

On Jan. 1, Owens will make history when she fills term-limited Walsh’s seat in City Hall.⁠ She will begin her tenure in a bluer Onondaga County than previous mayors. On Tuesday, Democrats flipped the county legislature — and elected new faces to the Common Council.

“Let’s all believe in Syracuse,” Owens said. “This is a moment in the trajectory of our city, and we’re moving forward … Syracuse is positioned to move this region forward.”