Every party on the ballot will be represented after last week’s election

After last week’s election, Onondaga County residents will see representatives backed by every party on the ballot as members of public office.

In the most recent comparable election held in 2015, the only minor parties candidates aligned themselves with were the Conservative, Independence, and Reform parties. This time around, candidates ran under the Working Families, Libertarian, Justice For All, Serve America Movement (SAM), and the Upstate Jobs Party in addition to the Conservative and Independence Parties.

In 2015, support for all the third party votes combined did not exceed 25% in any race. But third party registration has increased 28.32% among Onondaga County voters since 2009.

“As a candidate in Onondaga County, and probably in New York State, you really do your very best to get as many lines as possible as a strategy to win,” said Marty Masterpole, current county comptroller-elect.

According to candidates, the platforms of every party they run for address issues relevant in Onondaga County.

SAM, one of the party lines Masterpole ran on, emphasizes ballot access, campaign finance reform, and gerrymandering in its platform. While SAM is a more conservative party, and Masterpole himself is a Democrat, he agrees with these points and sees the importance of implementing these values in Onondaga County.

“Democrats in Onondaga County have a huge campaign platform at the moment about gerrymandering and how much the districts were gerrymandered by the Republicans,” Masterpole said.

Masterpole, Tony Malavenda, Chuck Keller, and Mark Kolinski all ran on the Working Families platform. Malavenda, Keller, and Kolinski lost their races to incumbents.

“Under the Republican Administration, Onondaga County is number one in concentrated poverty,” Ben Young, the Campaign Manager for Malavenda’s campaign said. “The Working Families Party wants to make sure we get people out of poverty by having living wages and providing economic opportunity.”

Masterpole, the sole victor of the group, agrees with the party’s over-arching message.

“Who’s against an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay?” Masterpole said.