Tammy Honeywell, a Democratic Socialist and a local union leader, is running to represent the Onondaga County Legislature’s 8th District.
She faces Chad Ryan in the Democratic primary for the district seat. She ran against Ryan in the 2025 primary election cycle but was defeated.
Honewell is running as part of the “affordability slate” — a slate of candidates that includes legislature candidate Jo Bennett and state assembly candidate Maurice “Mo” Brown. Each candidate has been backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
You can read more about Honeywell’s opponent here.
Editor’s note: Central Current accepted responses to its question-and-answer series in written form.
Central Current: As a legislator, how do you plan to make housing more affordable in Onondaga County?
Tammy Honeywell: For tenants, Onondaga County has seen some of the highest rent hikes in the nation. I want the county to create a framework that works with municipalities to regulate the cost of rental housing. For example, we should be offering towns extra funding to opt-in to bills like Good Cause Eviction (which limits rent hikes and stops tenants from being evicted for no reason) or the REST Act (which would allow upstate cities to stabilize rents) when it’s passed on the state level.
For homeowners and tenants alike, utility bills are a huge driver of housing costs, and are only getting worse because of Trump’s disastrous and irresponsible war on Iran. As county legislator I would push back against the construction of any data centers in Onondaga County, because they raise utility rates by using massive amounts of energy and water, while destroying the environment. I would also create educational programs to inform residents about resources available, like the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), so that everyone who’s eligible for help with their energy bills knows to apply. (HEAP is a federal program that assists low-income households with some energy costs.)
CC: What’s one thing the county could do that it isn’t currently doing to prepare Central New York for Micron’s arrival?
Honeywell: One thing the county could do is to improve the bus system by making it faster, free, adding more stops and expanding bus lines. The county should be working with Centro to make sure that when Micron opens there will be express buses that run back and forth from the city to the facility. Increasingly we’re seeing large industrial facilities open in the suburbs while a lot of the people who need jobs are in the cities. This means people’s options are to burn most of their paychecks on Uber or spend huge portions of their day away from their families waiting for the very limited bus options that currently run through places like Clay.
CC: The Democratic caucus has set transparency as one of its top priorities. In your capacity as a legislator, what is one way you’d like to make the county more transparent?
Honeywell: My campaign has worked with the local Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter to knock nearly 10,000 doors this election to talk to voters, a level of engagement that’s pretty unheard of for a race this size. This means we are talking with many people who I will directly represent, and will answer to.
In office I would continue to work with local, grassroots, volunteer-based organizations like DSA and others to engage large numbers of voters to come to town halls, to give input about what my priorities should be, and to mobilize as part of this political movement that we’re building together. Democracy should not just be something that’s just done in the legislature chambers or that ends on Election Day, the people should be a part of the process 365 days a year.
CC: The Democratic caucus has a majority for the first time in decades. Do you think the majority has done enough with the power it has? Why or why not?
Honeywell: The Democratic caucus has had the majority for 5 months. During that time we have seen things moving in the right direction.
For too long the County Executive has had unchecked power. That’s why things like term limits are necessary. Putting the power in the hands of the legislature instead of the executive, is necessary. One person should not have control over so many decisions.
We have a culture of creating career politicians. We need a culture of putting people first by addressing residents’ needs. We can do that while holding the executive more accountable and being more transparent.
I would also say, as long as there are people who are unhoused, as long as people can’t pay their bills, as long as people do not have childcare – we have not done enough as elected officials, and as a society. If people do not have all their human rights and civil rights met, we have not done enough.
CC: In local public hearings, constituents have raised concerns about the environmental impacts of Micron and wastewater treatment. Do you believe the county has done enough to protect our water resources? If not, what’s one specific thing you would change?
Honeywell: No, I do not. They need to engage in a better relationship with the Onondaga Nation, first and foremost. We are on the land of the Onondaga Nation, the central fire of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The first democracy of this land, which provided the blueprint for the U.S. Constitution. If we are going to be serious about climate issues and environmental impact, they should be involved in every conversation as full nation-to-nation partners. They are stewards of the land.
We also need to engage local organizations looking to initiate a Community Benefits Agreement with Micron. These should be union jobs offering first priority to residents who already live here, and truly investing into the community it wants to be a part of.
We have beautiful land and waters in New York State. We need to be doing everything we can to protect them, and keep our drinking water clean. Water is life. We need it for survival. The amount of water that will be used for the Micron project is bigger than the County could handle on its own. So much that we have now bonded $500 million to ensure we are prepared.
Between Micron and the Aquarium we are talking about a lot of energy and resources being used to make these things happen. Meanwhile it will also put more stress on our grid, and we are all currently feeling the effects of increased utility costs.
