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UPDATE: This post was updated at 11:10 p.m. on June 6, 2025.

As Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh concludes his last term in office, Democratic, Republican and Independent candidates continue their campaigns for the fall 2025 mayoral election. Three Democratic candidates will face off in the primary in June for a spot on the final ballot.

Democratic and Republican primaries will take place on June 24, with early voting beginning a week before on June 14. Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, 2nd District Councilor Pat Hogan and Syracuse Common Councilor At-Large Chol Majok are running for the Democratic Party.

Republican candidate Thomas Babilon is running unopposed. He will appear on the mayoral ballot in November along with independent candidates Tim Rudd and Alfonso Davis.

Petition requirements

The 2025 Petition Signature Requirements from the Onondaga County Board of Elections outlines that independent candidates must receive a minimum of 1,443 signatures to secure a spot on the independent ballot.

Rudd has fulfilled this requirement, though Davis is facing opposition. Davis, who has unsuccessfully run for Syracuse Mayor several times, was removed from the democratic ballot for invalid signatures.

512 of the 1,872 signatures Davis submitted in May for a spot on the independent ballot are currently being challenged by Owen’s supporter Rickey Brown, syracuse.com reported. The County Board of Elections will go through the petition challenges and hold a hearing on June 13.

Democratic candidates are required to collect 1,000 signatures from registered Democratic Syracuse voters before the April 3 deadline. Owens was the first candidate to submit her petition with 2,800 signatures on April 1.

Sharon Owens

Previously serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development, Owens, a Syracuse University alumna, is running on a platform to improve Syracuse residents’ quality of life with her “Inclusive & Growing Economy” and “thriving neighborhoods” plans.

In an interview with WRVO Public Media, Owens described her campaign’s name, “Maximizing the Moment,” as a reference to upcoming projects in the city. Owens expressed the importance of the I-81 Project, pledging as mayor to ensure effective communication with the New York State Department of Transportation local team through completing all project phases.

Owen’s campaign is focused on increasing public safety, financial sustainability and efforts to help children, teens and young adults. She believes her background as a mother to a neurodivergent son gives her a unique perspective on education, and she vows to work collaboratively with schools to promote “effective learning environments,” according to her website.

She has been endorsed by SU’s chapter of College Democrats, New York Working Families Party, College Democrats of America, Citizen Action of New York & Central New York and Democrats of SU, among others and if elected, would be the first Black woman to be mayor of Syracuse.

Chol Majok

Born in South Sudan, Candidate Chol Majok was one of the 20,000 Lost Boys, child refugees who fled to Ethiopia to escape the ​​Second Sudanese Civil War. If elected, Majok would be the first Black and immigrant mayor of Syracuse.

After immigrating to the United States in 2001 and gaining his citizenship, his agenda aims to ensure everyone has an opportunity to live the “American dream,” according to his website.

Like Owens, Majok is an SU alumnus who received his bachelor’s degree in 2008 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He previously served as a 3rd District Syracuse Common Councilor from 2019 to 2023, when he was elected Councilor-at-Large.

Majok’s platform focuses on green infrastructure and urban planning, housing in Syracuse and code enforcement and quality of life. As mayor, Majok pledges to invest city dollars into renewable energy sources, recycling initiatives and using urban farming as a tool to combat crime and homelessness to make Syracuse more sustainable.

He hopes to create a new code enforcement to improve residents’ overall quality of life and enhance community engagement through actively reporting and preventing code violations. Additionally, he describes housing as a right and not a privilege, vowing to make homeownership in the city more accessible and affordable.

Pat Hogan

Candidate Hogan echoes Majok’s view on housing, calling it one of the most “fundamental elements” of the city. Hogan, a Syracuse native, currently serves as Syracuse’s 2nd district Common Councilor, President Pro-Tempore and Chairman of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Authority.
After working for the Department of Parks and Recreation for the City of Syracuse for 31 years, Hogan said his experience in public service makes him familiar with working with neighborhoods, businesses and people.

His priorities for mayor are under three main pillars: housing, public safety and business. As Mayor, Hogan promises to combat the Syracuse housing crisis by reinvesting middle-class income into neighborhoods to encourage “market potential and investment opportunity,” according to his website.

Hogan was part of the unanimous vote by the Common Council to override all 45 of Walsh’s vetoes for the 2025–26 fiscal year city budget on May 27. The proposed budget originally increased from last year’s by $7.4 million.

During a Thursday mayoral debate hosted by Central Current, Hogan criticized Walsh’s plan and suggested a more collaborative approach to the city’s budget process.

When discussing the delays to the Children’s Rising Center, an early education center for children and families, Hogan said he would implement a similar method of collaboration with the main stakeholders of Blueprint 15 and the Syracuse Housing Authority, allowing for more direct communication.

Tim Rudd

Rudd, the former budget director for Walsh, announced his campaign in January as a “Republican In Name Only.” The long-time democrat was removed from the party by the Onondaga County Republican Committee and fired by Walsh for racist comments made against Owens in February.

Election information

In addition to mayoral primaries, primary elections for president of the Common Council, two Councilors-At-Large, 1st through 5th District Councilors and three Syracuse City School District Board of Education members will be held on June 24.

New York is a closed primary state, meaning only Syracuse residents registered as democrats can vote in the democratic primaries.

Early voting for the primaries will begin on June 14 and end on June 22. Residents can find polling locations and hours at onondaga.gov and mail-in ballots can be requested from the New York State Board of Elections.

Published on June 1, 2025 at 10:39 pm
Contact Sydney: sadepiet@syr.edu