Despite some of the hottest temperatures of the year, voters in Tompkins County turned out to vote at the primary elections on Tuesday across 36 polling sites.
Constituents voted for the City of Ithaca Common Council and Tompkins County Legislature. The Common Council had five seats up for grabs with no incumbents running for re-election. The County Legislature will also be updating its members as recent changes have increased the number of legislative districts from 14 to 16 — nine of which will be filled by new faces this election cycle.
With a fresh slate of leaders ready to step into office, the results for Tompkins County will be critical as it continues to grapple with housing affordability, high taxes and tenant rights for its residents — which voters emphasized were key issues.
“We have such a high rental population — just making sure that everyone can live comfortably in Ithaca is really important,” said Megan Sawey ’25, lecturer in the Communication department and a voter in Ithaca’s First Ward.
Those who were at the polls were long-time voters who made a strong effort to consistently vote in local elections, according to several people interviewed Tuesday by The Sun.
Lucas Wright, a Ph.D candidate within the communication department and First Ward voter, said that the competitive New York City mayoral election between forerunners Andrew Cuomo — former New York State governor — and State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, reminded him of how important local elections were.
“I think local politics is really important and often gets overlooked,” Wright said. “And making an effort to engage not just in the big elections that get everyone's attention, but in the local stuff too is really important.”
While there were many tight races — including the First Ward — where three candidates were competing for the position, some voters did not get their chance to cast a ballot. Second ward constituent Andrea Volckmar was disappointed to find her ward’s candidate, lawyer Joe Kerby, was running uncontested and that there was no ballot for her to cast despite making it out to the polling site.
“I always come out to the polls every year,” Volckmar said. “I believe in voting, I was a social studies teacher and I really don’t want people to give that up.”
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
Cereese Qusba is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at cqusba@cornellsun.com.
