UPDATED: Nov. 8 at 9:33 a.m.

Democrat Latoya Allen handily defeated challengers Quante Wright, an Independence Party candidate, and Serena “Rahzie” Seals of the Green Party to win the Common Council’s District 4 seat on Tuesday.

District 4 covers portions of Syracuse University’s campus and most of Syracuse’s South Side. The district contains both census tracts noted in a report about the city’s high rate of concentrated minority poverty and parts of the University Hill neighborhood, where some students and professors live.

Allen swept the election with 68 percent of the vote. Seals and Wright garnered about 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Khalid Bey, who won in his bid for an at-large council seat Tuesday, previously represented District 4. Timothy Rudd, a Democratic candidate, also won an at-large seat.

Allen, a youth program organizer who works on the South Side, has said she would frequently hold free “Coffee With My Councilor” events to discuss District 4 residents’ concerns.

“You have to deal with each different area (of the district),” Allen said in September. “But, at the same time, you treat everybody’s issues as a priority.”

She defeated two other Democrats, Michael Greene and Christopher Montgomery, in a primary this fall. In a previous interview, Allen said she would promote economic development and job growth if elected. She would also promote more open dialogue between Syracuse residents and SU students living off campus, Allen has said.

Allen has said she supports a “community grid” option for replacing a deteriorating section of Interstate 81 that bisects District 4 and the Pioneer Homes public housing complex, a low-income community split in two by the highway’s original construction in the 1950s and 1960s near the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.

Many kids living at Pioneer Homes suffer from asthma, Allen said in September, and officials must keep that in mind as they plan out the project. Dust and other debris could be unsafe, both Allen and Seales have said.

In other district races

Incumbent Joseph Carni, who serves as chairman of the council’s intergovernmental service consolidation committee, was re-elected to his District 1 seat. Chad Ryan, an incumbent and longtime resident of Tipperary Hill, was re-elected to his District 2 seat.

Susan Boyle, chair of the council’s education and human development committee, was re-elected to her District 3 seat. Joe Driscoll, a local activist who endorsed Ben Walsh for mayor, was elected District 5 councilor. He was not challenged.

Helen Hudson, a former at-large councilor, was also officially elected council president. She was not challenged for the position, which was left vacant by outgoing president Van Robinson.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the result of Khalid Bey’s bid for an at-large Common Council seat was misstated. Bey won his bid for one of the at-large seats. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on November 7, 2017 at 10:54 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek