UPDATED: Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 11:19 p.m.

Members of Syracuse University’s College Democrats and College Republicans groups on Wednesday expressed disappointment over the results of Syracuse’s mayoral race.

Ben Walsh, an independent who ran without the support of any major political party, defeated Democrat Juanita Perez Williams late Tuesday night, garnering about 54 percent of the electorate. Perez Williams previously served as SU’s associate dean of students.

Republican Laura Lavine received about 2 percent of the vote, coming in fourth behind Walsh, Perez Williams and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. The Republican was a former LaFayette Central School District superintendent.

The College Democrats endorsed Perez Williams in September, while the College Republicans endorsed Lavine last week.

Sarah Epelman, president of the College Democrats, stayed clear of Perez Williams’ watch party. She had bad memories of a 2016 presidential watch party, she said.

“My reaction was pretty similar to what most of the College Democrats felt,” said Epelman, a junior political science and policy studies double major, of Syracuse’s mayoral race. “When you work with someone, you commit a lot of time and put a lot of effort into a campaign, and then this happens, it hurts.

Several group members helped canvass for Perez Williams, including Andres Victoria, a sophomore political science major and vice president of College Democrats. Epelman said she primarily helped set up coordination between Perez Williams campaign staffers and group members.

On Election Day, while sitting in class, Epelman said she got a phone call from Nikki Carroll, executive director of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. Carroll told Epelman there were some concerns about the Hill.

“This region was having low turnout,” Epelman recalled. “And that’s why Andres and I started phone banking right away, started calling people, trying to get everyone to the polls. We did as much as we could. There’s only so much you can do.”

Victoria said although it’s a disappointing result, he hopes the College Democrats can sit down with Walsh at some point and discuss his platform.

“We would love to meet halfway, definitely,” he said.

Courtney Rau, a co-chair of the College Republicans group, spent election night with Lavine at her watch party on Syracuse’s Westside. The Republican candidate trailed behind Walsh and Perez Williams by double digits in a poll released prior to the election, but Rau said she was hoping Lavine could pull off an upset.

“We knew her chances of winning were very slim,” Rau said. She said she worked hard to get residents to vote for Lavine, but it was difficult in a city that is majority Democratic.

Despite garnering only 589 votes, Rau said Lavine took the loss with “grace and dignity.”

Because Walsh is from a political family that is historically Republican, Rau said she thinks the mayor-elect has the potential to be a bipartisan leader.

Brandon Conrad, the organization’s secretary, said he was proud of Lavine. He added he hopes to see the Republican run for another office, perhaps on the city school board.

Both Rau and Conrad said they want to stay in touch with Lavine in the future. Conrad said he hopes to bring Lavine to a College Republicans meeting and have her talk about her experiences on the campaign trail.

“Obviously (Lavine’s loss) wasn’t the desired result,” Conrad said. “But I don’t think her political career should stop right here.”

Published on November 8, 2017 at 10:44 pm

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