Republican Ann Marie Buerkle defeated U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, by 561 votes Nov. 23 in the 25th Congressional District race three weeks after voters cast their ballots on Election Day.

‘The election is over, and we now have the answer to who is going to be our next congressman, and now we have to get to work, and that’s what will begin immediately,’ Buerkle said in her victory speech.

The unofficial vote as of Nov. 23 had Buerkle with 104,387 votes and Maffei with 103,826 votes, giving the Republican challenger a victory by less than three-tenths of 1 percent. Since Election Day, volunteers and lawyers of Maffei looked over the votes cast Nov. 2 and absentee ballots to try to find enough votes to be re-elected. At the end of their efforts, Maffei conceded to Buerkle on Nov. 23 instead of asking a judge at a Nov. 24 court date to order the Onondaga County Board of Elections to hand-recount more than 200,000 ballots. 

After freshman incumbent Maffei’s loss, Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry will need to develop a new relationship with Congresswoman-elect Buerkle. The 25th District followed the trend of anti-Democrat sentiment that set the tone for the 2010 midterm elections.

Jeffrey Stonecash, a professor of political science at SU, said he was surprised Buerkle emerged victorious. 

‘She had a reputation locally as being pretty conservative, and this is not a conservative district,’ he said. ‘I just take it as an indication of just how much anger there is about the economy, about the mandates in the health care bill, the frustration that government doesn’t seem to be able to help. I take it as what happened here was she just became the vehicle that rode the wave of the hostility.’

With the victory, Buerkle, 59, becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 25th District. She had previously run for public office unsuccessfully four times, including a run for Congress in 1988 before eventually dropping out. Buerkle served on the Syracuse Common Council in 1994 and took a break from her job as an assistant state attorney general to make her second run at the U.S. House in 2010. 

Although Buerkle won the district, which includes Onondaga and Wayne counties and parts of Monroe and Cayuga counties, she was never favored. In a Syracuse Post-Standard/Siena College poll released two weeks before the election, Buerkle was shown trailing Maffei by 12 percentage points. 

On election night, Maffei held a lead of about 5,600 votes over Buerkle, according to preliminary poll results. But on Nov. 3, Wayne County reported its results, propelling Buerkle into the lead by 659 votes and causing the election to drag on for another three weeks so absentee ballots could be counted. 

With Buerkle’s win, the Republicans now have a net gain of 63 seats in the House. Her victory also made New York the state with the most House shakeups — six districts changed from Democrat to Republican in the 2010 midterms. New York’s race for the 1st Congressional District is the only remaining undecided House race. 

Although Buerkle won, Maffei outpaced her in campaign contributions. Maffei received more than $2.7 million, and Buerkle raised almost five times less with $551,807. Buerkle, a graduate of the SU College of Law, received only $50 from SU employees while Maffei received $21,275.

Despite contributing more to Maffei, SU spokesman Kevin Quinn said university employees will have to make their own decision on whether or not to support Buerkle in the future. 

‘Congressman Maffei was a great support of the university, but we look forward to working with Congresswoman-elect Buerkle moving forward,’ he said.

ESF President Neil Murphy gave a total of $325 to Maffei’s campaign but could not be reached for comment regarding Buerkle’s recent victory. But Murphy has previously voiced his displeasure regarding Buerkle’s view that climate change is a myth. 

‘This is not new,’ Murphy said in an article published on The Post-Standard’s website on Oct. 14. ‘This has been known by scientists for decades. We’re going to have changes of ocean levels of 1- to 4-feet by the end of the next century. We’re going to have a temperature change of 8- to 9-degrees. This demands action, not denial. Climate change is real.’

During an Oct. 29 interview, Maffei said Buerkle’s opinion on global climate change would not relate to voters.

‘Given her values that global climate change is a myth in a city that has one of the best schools of environmental science and forestry in the country,’ Maffei said, ‘I just don’t think that will compute with the voters here.’

But Buerkle related enough to voters to squeak out a victory over Maffei. In her victory speech, Buerkle pledged to work for the people of the 25th District.

‘I want to say to all the people in the 25th District, I pledge to you that you will have an open door, that I will represent you to the very best of my abilities and that you will have a congressman who will listen to you and take your interests and your needs to Washington,’ she said.

Maffei expressed gratitude toward his friends, supporters and constituents for the opportunity to serve the district during the past two years, he said in a statement released Nov. 23.

Maffei also said he does not apologize for his positions on the health care bill, financial reform, the credit card bill, the stimulus package or his commitment to energy reform and efforts to slow climate change. But he does regret the lack of opportunities to make health care more affordable and get more resources to the district for needed public projects, he said in the statement. 

‘I make no apologies, except to my friends, supporters and staff for the fact the final outcome was not what we wanted,’ Maffei said. ‘I congratulate Congresswoman-elect Buerkle and her supporters and family. I wish her luck in the new Republican majority.’ 

jdharr04@syr.edu

Published on November 29, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu