ITHACA, N.Y.—Democratic State Senate candidate Lea Webb announced today that outgoing Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick has endorsed her for State Senate.
During her candidacy announcement at the beginning of December in Ithaca, the Binghamton native’s speech was mostly aimed at her hometown and its surrounding areas. Her goals focused on affordable housing, environment, cited interests related to fracking, promoting green space and alternative energy sources for farm communities, the Affordable Care Act and passage of the NY Health Act, and jobs and the economy, specifically small businesses and startups.
In the Jan. 24 press release, Myrick said “I’m proud to endorse Lea Webb for the NY State Senate in 2022. In our 14 years in public service together, I’ve known Lea to be a fierce fighter and a passionate advocate who will take our community’s voice to Albany. The list of Lea’s accomplishments is long and varied! She led the fight to ban fracking in the City of Binghamton, to require equal pay for women, and to create a city human rights commission. On behalf of her constituents, Lea stood up to absentee landlords, fought for health care for all, and promoted programs to remove lead from Binghamton homes. I know she’ll bring the same dedication and tenacity to the State Senate.”
Coincidentally, both Myrick and Webb were sworn into their respective offices on the same night in Jan. 2012; Myrick as Ithaca’s youngest and first mayor of color, and Webb as the youngest and first African-American person elected to Binghamton’s City Council.
Candidacies are a little strange right now because of one main reason: redistricting. While candidates have still declared for office, like Webb’s fellow Democratic challenger Leslie Danks Burke, it is unclear exactly where the parameters of the new district will lie and which constituents will be represented by the district.
If the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission’s Senate 52 (Plan A) is selected, Tompkins and Broome counties would be grouped together. At this time it is also possible that the NYS Legislature may end up redrawing maps that separate Tompkins and Broome counties, which would remove Webb from representing Ithaca or Tompkins County.
January 24, 2022