Maurice “Mo” Brown wins NY’s 129th District by more than half

The Onondaga Democratic Committee hosted its election night watch party in downtown Syracuse on Nov. 3. 

Several Democratic candidates attended, including Maurice “Mo” Brown, the candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 129th District, and Rachel May, the candidate for the New York State Senate in the 48th District.

“I’m nervous,” said Trista Phillipson, who lives near Syracuse University, “more so for the nation; I think we’ll be okay in Syracuse.”

There are two new candidates running for the State Assembly in New York’s 129th District, which is made up of parts of Syracuse, Van Buren, Geddes and part of the university neighborhood. There are approximately 133,045 people in the district. 

Maurice “Mo” Brown is the Democratic candidate, and Shawn Fiato is the Republican candidate. Both candidates have served on the Onondaga County Legislature. 

Brown has been the legislator for the county’s 15th district since 2023, which includes parts of the Town of Onondaga and the Town of Dewitt. Fiato served as the county legislator for the 8th District from January 2025 to January of this year. She lost her bid for reelection to Chad Ryan. She was appointed by County Executive J. Ryan McMahon II after Chris Ryan, Chad Ryan’s cousin, won his election and was elected to the New York State Senate. 

Both Brown and Fiato are running for this seat for the first time in their political careers. The seat was previously held by William “Bill” Magnarelli, who had held the seat since 1998. Brown was the first to challenge him in a primary election and won by 107 votes in June.

Around 10 p.m., as races in Syracuse began to be called, Mayor Sharon Owens got on stage to address attendees. 

“You’re supposed to show a little humility,” Owens said, “but not tonight.” 

The crowd erupted in response. 

At 10:30 p.m., Brown wasn’t ready to call the race yet, but was confident it would be called by the end of the night. Something he was looking forward to, compared to the long wait for a decision during his primary race.

“We’re moving [counting the votes quickly]; we’re gonna call this tonight,” he said. “It’s a big difference from the primary, when we had to wait a week, so I’m looking forward to calling it tonight.” 

Roughly half an hour later, Brown’s race was called. 

At 11:05 p.m., Brown was elected to the New York State Assembly representing the 129th District. Winning 65% of the vote, with a lead of 10,400 votes. With Brown’s win, Democrats keep the Assembly seat they’ve held for nearly 30 years. 

“We’ve been talking about the blue wave for a long time, and it seems like we’re finally gonna get to swim in it,” said Brown. 

Fiato was not available for comment and did not attend the Onondaga Republican Committee’s election night watch party. 

After the election was called, attendees said they felt excited and optimistic about the future with Brown’s win. 

“I feel like the big message for this year is that there’s actually no hard cap on our political project,” said Mae Gray Carden, a member of the Syracuse DSA. 

Maurice “Mo” Brown will be sworn in to the New York State Assembly on Jan. 1, 2027. The new session will begin six days later, on Jan. 7.