Every voter in Onondaga County can cast a ballot for their representative on the county legislature this week. But voters will only really have a choice in a handful of districts.

All 17 seats on the legislature are up for election, but there are contested races in just 6. Those include a pair or races with no incumbent, an appointee seeking to fend off a challenger from a well-known political family, and several races in the area’s most affluent towns.

In addition to voting for their local legislator, voters will decide whether to extend legislators’ terms from two years to four and impose a three-term limit. That proposition is on the back of the ballot.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Republicans have long held a big advantage in the county legislature. They currently outnumber Democrats 12 to 5. The GOP picked up a seat this year after Democrat Chris Ryan won a seat in the state Senate. County Executive Ryan McMahon appointed Shawn Fiato, a Republican, to replace him in the legislature’s 8th district.

Democrat Chad Ryan, a former city councilor whose father was a longtime legislator, is challenging Fiato for that seat.

Among the other races to watch this week is a three-way race for the 9th district seat, covering the city’s North Side. It’s traditionally been one of the seats held by Democrats on the legislature.

Earlier this year, legislator Palmer Harvey withdrew from the race after a judge found she submitted fraudulent petitions.

The GOP nominated Bonnke Sekarore, a former refugee and city school valedictorian to run. It might normally be a long-shot campaign in a heavily blue district.

But he’s got two opponents who are Democrats: Nicole Watts and Kenyatta Calloway. Watts is running on the Working Families Party line. Calloway was selected by the Democratic committee, but will run on an independent line. The Democrats lost their line on the ballot after Harvey withdrew.

There’s another open seat in the suburbs. Legislator Deb Cody won’t run again in the 5th district, which includes much of Salina and DeWitt. That leaves an open seat with two candidates: Republican David Carnie and Democrat Ellen Block.

Student reporters in a political reporting class at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School talked with each of the candidates, as well as many of their colleagues, family members, friends and opponents. They wrote a series of stories introducing readers to each candidate.

Here are those stories:

District 4

Actor, writing teacher Jeremiah Thompson seeks spot on Onondaga County Legislature Colleen Gunnip relies on experience in Onondaga County Legislature re-election bid

District 5

Ellen Block joins political arena with bid for open Onondaga County legislature seatSalina town councilor David Carnie seeks spot on Onondaga County legislature

District 6

Gregg Eriksen’s friends called him ‘senator;’ Now, he’s running for Onondaga County legislatureFormer broadcaster Julie Abbott seeks 4th term on Onondaga County legislature

District 8

Former councilor Chad Ryan comes back for family seat on Onondaga County legislatureRepublican Shawn Fiato looks to keep seat in a blue Onondaga County Legislature district

District 9

District 10

Elaine Denton aims to help people better understand Onondaga County governmentFirefighter, mayor, lifelong resident Mark Olson seeks 3rd term on Onondaga County legislature

There are uncontested races in the 11 other districts. The candidates on the ballot in those races are:

District 1 – Brian May (R, C)District 2 – Kevin Meaker (R, C)District 3 – Tim Burtis (R, C)District 7 – Dan Romeo (D)District 11 – Richard McCarron (R, C)District 12 – David Knapp (R, C)District 13 – Kenneth Bush, Jr. (R, C)District 14 – Cody Kelly (R, C)District 15 – Maurice Brown (D, WFP)District 16 – Charles Garland (D)District 17 – Nodesia Hernandez (D, WFP)

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