Maurice “Mo” Brown will challenge William Magnarelli, Syracuse’s longest serving state legislator, in the Democratic primary for the New York State Assembly’s 129th District.
The race pits Brown, an upstart county legislator who has run political campaigns for progressive candidates, against Magnarelli, once a Working Families Party candidate who views himself as part of the moderate wing of the Democratic party.
Local Democratic leaders designated Magnarelli, who is running to serve his 15th term in the assembly, as their candidate in the race.
Brown is running, in part, because he says Magnarelli, who has served since 1998, has not changed with Syracuse.
“I think my opponent is trying his hardest. I don’t think it’s effort. I don’t think he’s a bad guy. I just don’t think we have time to wait for him to figure it out,” Brown said. “Twenty-eight years is enough.”
The race is set to be a test of whether the state’s progressive playbook can work in Central New York. Just last year, five progressive candidates beat Republican opponents in races for Onondaga County Legislature seats with a Working Families Party designation. Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens, designated as a WFP candidate, won her race. She joined upstate mayors in Buffalo and Albany as well as Zohran Mamdani in New York City who won while being designated as WFP candidates.
Brown appears poised to receive the WFP designation. In an interview about his candidacy, Brown frequently discussed housing, affordability, childcare and immigration as major focuses for his campaign, much like those candidates.
Magnarelli plans to hitch his campaign to his record. He pointed to his record in the state legislature ten times during an interview with Central Current. He sponsored the Tenant Dignity and Safe Housing Act, which allowed tenants to sue landlords for repairs. Magnarelli was an early supporter of funding to resettle refugees, he said.
Both candidates have ties to the Working Families Party. Magnarelli was a Working Families Party candidate in 2016. Brown has spent his time in Central New York doorknocking for WFP candidates and launched his own campaigns on the Working Families Party line.
“I think the Working Families Party moved away from me,” Magnarelli said, “but the bottomline is: I’m a Democrat.”
As the region’s longest-serving legislator, Magnarelli began his term when Brown was about six years old.
In the time Magnarelli has held that seat, Brown has grown up, served in the U.S. Army Reserve, moved to Onondaga County and helped build the progressive wing of the Democratic party in Central New York.
Brown got his start in politics by working on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run for president.
“Bernie Sanders was the first candidate I saw speak directly to what I see as one of the biggest ills in our society: a disproportionate amount of wealth concentrated in the hands of like, 14 people,” Brown said. “And when he said that, I was like, ‘This is it. This is speaking directly to it.’”
He knocked doors and eventually became a national delegate for the Sanders campaign. Brown has spent the time since then running local campaigns for progressive candidates, including his own campaign to represent the Onondaga County Legislature’s 15th District. He is currently serving his second term in the legislature.
Brown set up his campaign against Magnarelli as a battle of two candidates with opposite views of the current state of the country: one candidate, Brown, who thinks things are not OK and one, Magnarelli, who thinks things are OK. Magnarelli rejected that characterization.
“You can do a lot of yelling and screaming all over the place, but to get things done – to make a difference – is a different ball game,” said Magnarelli.
Brown believes the state has the resources to make living in Central New York more affordable, an aim that is much tougher to accomplish as a county legislator, he said. He has several legislative priorities should he be elected:
- Passing ‘good cause eviction’ legislation statewide
- Providing universal childcare
- Passing New York For All
He listed off more broad goals like bringing back more money to Onondaga County to invest in housing and transportation as well as reining in tax incentives for developers.
“In my time on the legislature, I’ve hit a bunch of different walls, but one of the biggest is how much say the state has over the amount of housing and childcare we put people in,” Brown said.
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