Republican David Knapp protected his seat as 12th District Legislator from Democrat Jennifer Blusk in Tuesday’s election, defeating Blusk by around 1,220 votes. 

Knapp, 57, has represented Onondaga County’s 12th district since 2012. As chairman of the Onondaga County Legislature, he oversees the body’s 17 members, each elected from a single-member district. 

“Obviously I’m very, very happy,” Knapp said. “And as chairman of the legislature I’m also very happy because we’re going to very easily maintain the majority of the legislature.”

After Ryan McMahon stepped down to take on the role of county executive, Knapp was unanimously voted in as Onondaga County Legislature chairman in 2018. He previously served as the Republican Party floor leader and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. 

Knapp’s top concern is to address the county’s aging infrastructure, specifically identifying and repairing water and sewer systems. Before the county can build new infrastructure, it has to fix the old, he said. 

“For the past 30 years we’ve spent over $700 million joining up on Onondaga Lake,” Knapp said. “Now we’re transitioning to more of a maintenance and monitoring stage.” 

Atlantic States Legal Foundation, a nonprofit focused on environmental protection, filed a lawsuit against Onondaga County in 1988 over sewage overflows into the lake. Last month, the foundation agreed to end the suit. 

Knapp said the lawsuit’s settlement will allow the county to use its money to target aging infrastructure, specifically sewer pipes on the east side of the county, as well as resurfacing and repairing county roads and bridges.

The 2020 Onondaga County budget set aside nearly $9 million toward repaving county roads.

This was the first time that Blusk, 53, had run for public office. She previously worked on Dana Balter’s campaign for Congress and Rachel May’s campaign for the State Senate. 

Blusk’s platform focused on issues of transparency, sustainability and the redrawing of party lines in 2021. When she had gone canvassing door-to-door, she realized that very few people knew what the county legislature does, Blusk said.

“People don’t know anything about the county legislature,” Blusk said. “If we had a more transparent local government, then people could participate more and they would possibly engage more.” 

Blusk pushed for videotaping legislative sessions and posting them online, as well as using social media to keep the public informed. The county plans to start livestreaming legislative meetings in the upcoming year, Knapp said. 

Knapp grew up on his parent’s dairy farm in LaFayette, New York. He said agricultural is important to him because it’s one of the largest economic sectors in the county and makes up a large portion of his district. The 12th District encompasses parts of Syracuse, Manlius, and DeWitt, as well as all of Pompey, Fabius, Tully and LaFayette.

“I enjoy being able to help people, plain and simple,” Knapp said. “That’s why I’m doing this. To be able to help the farms in the southern towns and move the county forward.”

Blusk said she wouldn’t change anything that she did regarding her campaign. 

“When we participate in democracy, you don’t know necessarily what you’ve won,” Blusk said. “Maybe this is the beginning of winning it next time. Or maybe there’s a bunch of people who are inspired from having seen me do this and who knows what they are going to do if they act on being inspired in that way.” 

Published on November 6, 2019 at 12:44 am