With independent run for mayor, Alfonso Davis seeks to challenge ‘status quo’
In his independent bid for Syracuse mayor, Alfonso Davis is running to challenge the city’s political “status quo.” Davis, a former teacher making his fourth bid for mayor, said he hopes to appeal to voters across party lines. Leo Eriman I Photo Editor
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Every two weeks, Syracuse mayoral candidate Alfonso Davis gets a manicure and pedicure.
“Pamper yourself,” he said.
Davis brushes off the idea that mani-pedis are feminine, an attitude that reflects how he runs his campaign as an independent challenging the “status quo” in Syracuse politics.
“We need somebody who is unapologetically ready to move the city in the direction that it needs to,” Davis said.
Davis is making his fourth bid for Syracuse mayor since 2009. His second run was in 2013, and in 2017, he launched a campaign but was removed from the ballot due to invalid signatures — the year current Mayor Ben Walsh, an independent, won.
Davis’ opponents include Democratic candidate and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, Republican candidate Thomas Babilon and fellow independent Tim Rudd.
After his petitions on the Democratic primary ballot were invalidated in April 2025 by the Onondaga County Board of Elections, Davis decided to run as an independent.
Though he is a registered Democrat, Davis said running without a political party opens him up to more voters.
“I’m not close-minded,” Davis said. “I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, independent, the goal is to give people an opportunity to choose between following the status quo or doing something different.”
Before running for mayor, Davis earned an education degree from SUNY Oswego and taught social studies in the Syracuse City School District. He began a master’s program at Syracuse University but did not complete it.
Davis said he’s been a community activist for his entire life. He currently works as a freelance life insurance agent and financial planner. Davis also worked at the Syracuse Housing Authority and New Process Gear, where he took a buyout in 2008.
Davis worked on several political campaigns, including for Charles Anderson, a former 4th district common councilor, before choosing to run for mayor himself.
Anderson said Davis was a member of the task force on police and community relations, where he worked on the proposed ordinance that led to the creation of the Citizen Review Board — an oversight committee that reviews complaints of misconduct by the Syracuse Police Department.
“He stayed with me the whole time,” Anderson said. “It’s good to have someone like that who’s going to stick with you, no matter what the situation is.”
Davis’s current campaign treasurer, Katherine Stokes, said she met Davis at church and volunteered to help him get signatures during his first run. Though she lives in Auburn and can’t vote in Syracuse, she said she believed in his vision.
“I think he’s getting more traction this run, and I think people are really seeing what he’s saying is true about what the city of Syracuse needs,” Stokes said.
Davis grew up in the Pioneer Homes public housing project and said his “approachability” and focus on helping the most vulnerable sets him apart from other candidates. Calling himself the “people’s champ,” he emphasized his commitment to addressing community concerns.
“If you approach me about our city, about something concerning that’s going on, I’m gonna talk to you and I’ll make myself available,” Davis said. “I’m not afraid to go in (any) neighborhood.”
When Davis isn’t campaigning or working, he said he enjoys spending time with his wife, Felicia Davis — a city court judge — and his five kids, one of whom just started her freshman year at Manhattan University.
Stokes said Davis has great leadership potential as a “family man” who demonstrates integrity and a commitment to his community and his Christian faith. Davis is a member of the Gospel Temple Church of God on Oakwood Avenue.
“He helps out the community when the people of Syracuse are in need,” Stokes said. “They call Alfonso to help them on any level and he loves that, and he loves the city of Syracuse.”
While some of Davis’s neighbors don’t plan to vote for him in November, most describe him as a committed community activist and good neighbor. Several also said they’ve noticed an increase in his yard signs around Syracuse.
Mary Czelusniak, who lives a few houses down from Davis, said she’ll be voting for Owens as a registered Democrat.
Czelusniak said she wouldn’t endorse Davis because of an incident in September 2022, when Davis was detained for bringing a loaded gun into the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport.
Davis said he forgot to leave the gun at home, which he normally locks in his friend’s safe, because he was recovering from shoulder surgery and waiting for pain medication to take effect before his friend drove him to the airport.
Davis was charged with criminal possession of a firearm in a sensitive location and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, facing up to seven years in prison. In March 2024, he was found guilty of possessing a gun with an extended magazine and sentenced to a conditional discharge, serving no jail time.
Similar to past campaigns, Davis is running on a platform focused on education, small businesses and reducing crime and poverty. He said revitalizing Syracuse’s struggling neighborhoods is critical to strengthening the entire city.
Davis said his first decision in office would be to perform a full-scale audit of every department to see how money is being spent.
He said the current administration has focused heavily on the Downtown neighborhood, but the city’s most underprivileged areas need help first. Strengthening those communities, he said, will benefit all of Onondaga County.
“Every community needs somebody to be that voice for them,” Davis said. “To recognize that these communities exist, and here are some critical issues that need to be addressed. People want somebody who’s not afraid to speak the truth.”
