Local candidates running for political office from both major political parties gathered at SUNY Oswego on Oct. 5 to discuss political issues and policy with students.

The event was held in the Marano Campus Center and put on by SUNY Oswego’s Political Science club, Sociology Club, and Vote Oswego. The goal was to have students meet candidates and encourage them to use their voice and participate in this midterm election cycle. Vote Oswego is hosting another event on Oct. 22 called “Don’t Ghost Democracy.”

According to yourvoicematters.vote, only 26.80% of New Yorkers aged 18-29 turned out to vote during the 2022 midterm elections, while in 2024, a presidential election year, the same demographic turned out much higher at 53.60%.

Despite the increase in young voter turnout during presidential election years, participation remains a concern for candidates looking to engage younger generations. New York State Sen. Christopher Ryan (D-Geddes), who represents the 50th Senate District, emphasized the importance of civic engagement and encouraged students to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

“My message is very clear: get out and vote,” Ryan said. “We live in what I would call a participatory democracy, so go out and participate. Let your voice be heard, let your vote be counted, and make sure you get out there. We’re all better for it when people vote and let their voices be heard.”

  Early in the discussion roundtable, almost all the politicians and office hopefuls had talked ad nauseam about what they would do for senior citizens, veterans and people on welfare. I spoke up and asked what they would do for young people, saying that a lot of Millennials and Gen Zers are not interested in politics because they see no benefits, change, or representation in government.

Oswego County legislator and Democratic minority leader Marie Schadt (D-Minetto) responded hastily to my question, insisting that young people needed to keep trying to get involved because veterans had fought for the right to vote and that disengagement would never solve the problem of young people’s problems.

When I followed up by asking about their policy goals for young people, Democratic county legislator candidate Glenn Stratton of Pulaski stood up and pointed toward me, asking what I wanted while posing the same question to other students. However, Stratton offered no specific policy initiatives to address housing affordability or bridge the political divide at the local level.

As the discussion surrounding political divisiveness and disengagement came to a close, the candidates began circulating the room to speak with attendees. Republican candidate James Coral sat down with me to discuss political disengagement and the exodus of residents from New York State. At just 24-years-old, Coral was the youngest person in the room.

“At the end of the day, I got into this race because I grew up here. I graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School, which had a class of 658 kids, and a lot of my friends are being priced out of Central New York. They’re leaving here and leaving for other places,” Coral said. “We’re not just losing them; we’re losing their kids, their grandkids, and future generations. We need more young people at the table in Albany because, if we don’t have more young people there, our needs and the needs of our generation are never going to be heard.”

Corl’s concerns reflect a broader trend across the region. According to a 2023 New York State Comptroller report, Central New York lost 3.1% of young adults aged 18-34 between 2013 and 2023. The comptroller’s office blames the migration out of New York on rising housing costs, student loan debt, and high unemployment. 

With young people leaving the region posing a growing challenge for Central New York, the issue takes on added significance in the race between Ryan and Corl. Ryan was a late addition to the list of candidates, joining Corl and sitting across from him in the roundtable. 

The race has grown increasingly contentious, with attacks coming from both sides of the aisle. However, much of the negative advertising reaching voters through television and mail has come from outside groups rather than the candidates themselves. Corl acknowledged that a group based in Dallas, Texas, had been spending money on attack ads against him, though he said he was unsure whether Sen. Ryan was working with the group.

Both candidates expressed a desire to see outside attack campaigns and big lobbying come to an end. Neither, however, offered a concrete resolution for how to address the role of out-of-state groups in political campaigning or to reduce the divisiveness surrounding local elections.

As for the exodus of young adults from Central New York, Ryan says he thinks things will improve with the addition of Micron. Ryan went on to talk about the funding he’s secured for trade programs in Central New York and BOCES programs. Ryan also talked extensively about all the trade programs he was working with, and he acknowledged the work he did to open up land in Southern Oswego County for home development alongside the Southern Oswego County Sewer System, which is in the planning and first building phases.

On the other hand, Corl spoke more about the affordability crisis and called for an all-of-the-above energy policy, cutting red tape, and cutting taxes, all the usual Republican party platforms, but he did say he’d break with the GOP mainstream on tariffs, which have taken a hit on the Upstate New York agriculture and tourism industries.

“New York’s energy prices are too high. New Yorkers pay 70% more for electricity than the rest of the country.” Coral said, “I’m very willing to break with the president on issues like tariffs. Those certainly don’t help our economic situation here in New York. But we also need to recognize that, since 2019, New York has taken more power offline than it has brought online.”

Coral’s claims are mostly correct. Since 2019, the state has lost 2,000 megawatts of energy due to the closing of the Indian Point nuclear station in 2021. However, his claim that New Yorkers are paying 70% more for electricity than in 2019 is correct due to several rate hikes and reliance on Canadian energy sources. This should not be confused with total annual energy costs, which are still higher in New York than the rest of the nation, but not at the 70% electricity rate that was reported by the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Beyond the debate over political campaigning, candidates also weighed in on local immigration issues, highlighting another issue shaping conversations across party lines. 

A tense exchange erupted when an Oswego County Republican legislature candidate for the 19th district, Gregory Clark, raised a September incident in the city of Oswego, in which local law enforcement worked alongside Border Patrol agents to detain two people suspected of being in the country illegally. Clark described the incident as chaotic, arguing that it could have been avoided if Democrats had not targeted law enforcement and if Gov. Kathy Hochul had not signed the so-called “No Collusion” law.

The discussion quickly devolved into a largely partisan debate, with Democrats in attendance defending the migrants and criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with some characterizing its actions as “tyranny.” As tensions rose, the moderator intervened to separate the participants and bring the discussion under control.

Finally, the discussion shifted to social services, with candidates raising concerns about government assistance, staffing shortages in the Oswego County Department of Social Services, and the support available to residents. As with earlier topics, few concrete solutions emerged. However, the issue resonated with several Democratic county legislative candidates, who questioned the priorities of county government. They argued that the decision to give legislators a pay raise last year was difficult to justify, while concerns about social services remained unresolved.

Finally, after nearly two hours of discussion, debate, and lengthy introductions, the candidates left the lounge area, bringing the evening to a close. While the event raised a wide range of concerns, from political divisiveness and immigration to housing affordability and social services, few solutions emerged from the dust. The final day to register to vote or change registration date is Oct. 24.