Sharon Owens greets supporters Tuesday night at Palladian. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

Sharon Owens scored a historic victory Tuesday night, winning her election to become Syracuse’s next mayor and its first Black mayor.

As of 11:22 p.m., Owens had won nearly 75% of the votes cast in the mayoral election, trouncing a crowded, four-person field. She has so far amassed a vote share even greater than the one she won in the Democratic primary.

Owens beat Republican Tom Babilon, independent candidate Alfonso Davis and independent candidate Tim Rudd.

After winning the election, Owens celebrated her win at Palladian Hall in Hanover Square in downtown Syracuse. She walked onto the stage to “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden and Whitehead.

On her road to the mayorship, Owens met a few unexpected obstacles. Early in the year, the city and Owens weathered blowback spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a faulty payroll modernization system. Then-Budget Director Tim Rudd accused the city of wrongdonig. He announced he’d run for mayor and step down from his role as budget director at the end of the city’s budget process. 

Rudd later released a podcast in which he made racist remarks about Owens. He was then fired. 

Weeks later, the Onondaga County Democratic Committee passed over Owens for its mayoral race designation, instead choosing longtime Tipperary Hill politician Pat Hogan. 

Owens smashed Hogan and Councilor Chol Majok in June’s Democratic primary, winning more than two-thirds of Democrats’ votes. 

Owens’ opponents in the general election came from a range of political backgrounds. They attempted to tie Owens to the record of Mayor Ben Walsh but were ultimately unsuccessful.

This is breaking news and will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

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Chris Libonati is the managing editor of Central Current. He is a founding editorial member of the organization and was hired as Central Current's first reporter. He previously worked at the Syracuse Post-Standard...

Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...