{"id":86460,"date":"2026-01-01T12:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T12:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/86460\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T12:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T12:18:07","slug":"new-york-changes-its-election-cycle-in-2026-heres-what-it-means-for-onondaga-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/86460\/","title":{"rendered":"New York changes its election cycle in 2026. Here\u2019s what it means for Onondaga County"},"content":{"rendered":"

A change in New York election law<\/a> means that most elections for town and county offices will shift from odd to even years starting in 2026, placing local candidates on the ballot in the same year with those seeking election to state and federal offices.<\/p>\n

The controversial switch could confuse voters who just elected candidates in November to serve in municipal offices that normally carry a two-year or four-year term.<\/p>\n

Now voters will be asked to fill those posts again after only one year in November 2026 as the state makes the switch to an even-year voting system.<\/p>\n

For example, all 17 legislators who were elected to the Onondaga County Legislature in November will have to run for reelection in 2026 for a four-year term.<\/p>\n

The change is significant because it means Democrats \u2013 who flipped the legislature from Republican control<\/a> for the first time in nearly 50 years \u2013 are guaranteed no more than one-year in their new majority.<\/p>\n

Elected offices in Syracuse and all other cities and villages in the state are exempt from the change. The elections for district attorney and county clerk are also exempt from the new law and will continue to be held in even years.<\/p>\n

The offices of town justice, family court judge, county court judge and surrogate court judge will continue in odd years because those terms are set by the state constitution. <\/p>\n

Onondaga County, unlike many counties, holds its election for sheriff in even-numbered years and plans to continue with that cycle every four years. That\u2019s why Sheriff Toby Shelley will be on the 2026 ballot.<\/p>\n

A group of counties and towns lost a lawsuit aimed at blocking the new election law. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon<\/a>, a Republican, led the effort. McMahon argued that the law violated the right of local governments to schedule their own elections.<\/p>\n

McMahon, last elected in 2023, can serve out his four-year term. The next election for county executive will be in 2027. The winner will serve a shortened term of three years before the next election in 2030.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the offices that will be on the ballot in 2026 in Onondaga County, according to a tentative list from the Board of Elections.<\/p>\n

Federal<\/p>\n

Representative in Congress, 22nd Congressional District<\/p>\n

State<\/p>\n

Governor<\/p>\n

Lt. Governor<\/p>\n

Comptroller<\/p>\n

Attorney General<\/p>\n

New York State Senate (48th District)<\/p>\n

New York State Senate (50th District)<\/p>\n

Member of Assembly (126th, 127th, 128th, 129th districts) <\/p>\n

Onondaga County<\/p>\n

Sheriff<\/p>\n

County Court Judge<\/p>\n

County Legislator (All 17 districts)<\/p>\n

Town Offices<\/p>\n

Camillus<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Ward Councilors (6)<\/p>\n

Highway Superintendent<\/p>\n

Cicero<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Clerk<\/p>\n

Justice <\/p>\n

Highway Superintendent<\/p>\n

Clay<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Clerk <\/p>\n

DeWitt<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Elbridge<\/p>\n

Justice<\/p>\n

Fabius<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Clerk <\/p>\n

Highway Superintendent <\/p>\n

LaFayette<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Tax Collector <\/p>\n

Manlius<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Marcellus<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Town Councilor (To fill vacancy)<\/p>\n

Onondaga<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Otisco<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Pompey<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Justice<\/p>\n

Town Councilor (To fill vacancy)<\/p>\n

Salina<\/p>\n

Supervisor <\/p>\n

Ward Councilors (4)<\/p>\n

Skaneateles<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Spafford<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Highway Superintendent<\/p>\n

Tax Collector<\/p>\n

Van Buren<\/p>\n

Supervisor<\/p>\n

Village of Elbridge<\/p>\n

Trustee (2) <\/p>\n

Village of Tully<\/p>\n

Trustee (2)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A change in New York election law means that most elections for town and county offices will shift…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[304,2659,9,11,10,12,12262,5384,10776,10777,2220],"class_list":["post-86460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-editorial","tag-election","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-news","tag-post-standard","tag-syracuse","tag-syracuse-com","tag-trimble","tag-vote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}