UPDATED: Feb. 6, 2019 at 7:01 p.m.

The Onondaga County Libertarian Party endorsed County Executive Ryan McMahon and eight other candidates for local office elections on Tuesday.

McMahon became county executive after former executive Joanie Mahoney stepped down to take a position at SUNY-ESF. McMahon is running against Tony Malavenda, a local businessman endorsed by the Onondaga County Democratic Committee.

“We believe we nominated a group of candidates that can help individuals be less burdened by their local government,” Onondaga County Libertarian Party Chairman Shawn Hannon said in a statement.

The party also endorsed Matt Beadnell for Onondaga County comptroller and Chuck Keller for Onondaga County district attorney. Marty Masterpole, Syracuse’s comptroller and a former mayoral candidate, is also vying for the comptroller position.

Keller will run against attorney Gary Lavine and current DA William Fitzpatrick, who were endorsed by the county’s Conservative Party and the county Republican Party, respectively.

Onondaga County’s Libertarian Party also endorsed Will Martin for county legislator in the 8th district, Courtney Hills for county legislator in the 7th district and John McBride for county legislator in the 11th district. Martin will be the first Libertarian Party member to appear on a ballot in Onondaga County, according to the statement.

“I look forward to this November to give the voters a choice for individual liberty,” Martin said in the statement.

Hills, a Syracuse University alumna, also ran for a County Legislature seat in 2017 on the Independence and Republican Party lines.

In the suburbs, the county’s Libertarian Party endorsed Mike Becallo for Cicero town councilor and Nicholas Paro for Salina town councilor.

Jason Zeigler was endorsed for a Common Councilor at-large seat, as well. Zeigler previously ran for Syracuse City Court judge in 2018, but lost to Ann Magnarelli.

There will be no primaries for the Libertarian Party in 2019, per the statement.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Courtney Hills’ previous run for the Onondaga County Legislature was misstated. She ran in 2017 on both the Independence and Republican Party lines. The Daily Orange regrets this error. 

Published on March 5, 2019 at 10:42 pm

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