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Khalid Bey has won the Democratic primary for Syracuse mayor. The Syracuse Common Council member will face the city’s current mayor, Ben Walsh, and Republican candidate Janet Burman at the ballot box on Nov. 2.

Bey defeated his fellow council member Michael Greene by only 34 votes. The win wasn’t confirmed until a week after election day, as Bey had a 40 vote lead after in-person votes were counted. Greene needed 54% of all absentee votes to win, but only received 50%, confirming Bey’s victory.

In February, the Onondaga County Democratic Committee selected Greene over Bey for the Democratic Party endorsement. The Syracuse native currently serves as an at-large councilor and has represented the Southside in the council from 2011 to 2018.

“I want to sincerely thank all those involved in our campaign and all those who supported our movement.” Bey said in a statement Tuesday.

Greene conceded the race in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday.

“The absentee ballots have been counted, and unfortunately our campaign came up 34 votes short. I am not going to sugarcoat it, to lose by that slim of a margin is excruciating,” he said. “It’s imperative that the party come together for the general election. Councilor Bey has my full support.”

Both Bey and Greene emphasized the need for unity following the primary in order to defeat incumbent Walsh.

“Syracuse deserves a mayor whose passion and authenticity delivers informed, principled, results that will empower everyone,” Bey said. “I will continue to work on behalf of our city’s residents to bring the change and reform our city needs.”

During his primary campaign, Bey emphasized his Southside roots and experience in the community.

“I have a more of an intimate understanding of what’s going on, and I think my catalogue of work speaks to that,” Bey said to The Daily Orange in May. “I’ve written more legislation than anybody in the past 25 years and all of my work has been organic. It has been people-driven.”

For both Bey and Greene, the future of the I-81 viaduct has been an important issue in the primary election. Bey emphasized his relationship with Southside during his campaign and said that the community must have a say in what happens to the land after the viaduct is demolished.

“As a person who grew up adjacent to that viaduct, I’m more intimately aware of its impact. I have respiratory issues that I’ll never get rid of because of breathing in … leaded gasoline,” he said to The D.O. in May.

Another issue Bey stressed during his campaign was delinquent landlords. The topic rose to the top of public conversation after an elderly woman was murdered in the Skyline Apartments on James Street in March.

“I already wrote the law to deal with that, and what you need to do is enforce it,” he said to The D.O. in May. “We have to put action where our words are. We have to do the job so that people know that we are for real about improving our housing stock and making landlords responsible.”

Although Bey is running against only Greene in the primaries, Bey hasn’t held back from criticizing Mayor Walsh. Bey expressed doubts in the police reform plan proposed by the Walsh administration and passed by the council in February.

“I don’t constitute restating what’s already in the rules as police reform. It seems to be more ceremonial than anything,” he said to The D.O. in May. “It really takes a mayor who understands what needs to happen in terms of police reform. You need a top-down approach to policing to assure that we are making a valiant effort to make our neighborhoods safe.”

Bey will run against Walsh and Burman on Nov. 2, and eligible voters can register to vote for the elections by Oct. 8 by mailing an application or registering in person at the Onondaga County Board of Elections office. Early voting for the general election will be open from Oct. 23-31.

Published on June 29, 2021 at 3:59 pm

Contact Nick: nickrobertson@dailyorange.com | @NickRobertsonSU