Syracuse elects its first Black mayor and second woman, Sharon Owens: ‘This is more than a win’

Sharon Owens was one of several Black women to have a victory on Election Day when she won with 73% of the votes.

Syracuse just made history.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, 62-year-old Sharon Owens became the city’s first Black mayor.

“We did it, Syracuse,” her campaign wrote on Instagram. “Sharon Owens has been elected our next mayor! This is more than a win — it’s a movement powered by community, love, and a shared vision for a stronger Syracuse. Thank you to everyone who voted, volunteered, and believed.”

Owens won with over 13,000 votes, defeating Republican Thomas Babilon and independents Alfonso Davis and Tim Rudd, according to unofficial results from the Onondaga County Board of Elections, capturing more than 73 % of the vote, per Syracuse.com. 

The state capital of Albany also elected its first Black mayor on the same night.

“To the elders of this community, you who for decades looked to the future of a time when there would be a mayor that looks like you, that comes from your experience, that understands the struggle, that gets the hopes and the aspiration of generations of Syracusans … I’m going to work hard to make you proud,” Owens told more than 300 supporters at her election night party, the outlet reported.

Her victory builds on eight years serving as deputy mayor under outgoing Mayor Ben Walsh, who was term-limited. A dedicated public servant and community leader, Owens arrived in Syracuse from her hometown of Geneva in 1981 to study economics at Syracuse University, initially planning for a Wall Street career. After earning a track scholarship and landing a work-study internship at the city’s historic Dunbar Center, Owens says she “fell in love” with Syracuse and chose to stay.

Graduating in 1985, she began her career in community development and housing—working for nonprofits including the Dunbar Center, PEACE Inc., Jubilee Homes and Home Headquarters. Moving into electoral politics, she made housing affordability, inclusive economic growth, public-safety reform and finishing the city’s major I-81 reconstruction project cornerstones of her mayoral agenda.

Throughout her campaign, Owens emphasized improving city housing, expanding initiatives launched in the Walsh era such as Syracuse Surge, and building an economy that uplifts LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and people-of-color-owned businesses, the Daily Orange reported. 

Born in Geneva on the northern tip of Seneca Lake and not originally from Syracuse, Owens later graduated from Syracuse University in 1985. 

“Syracuse, you adopted me. I’m your daughter,” Owens said during her victory speech, per the Daily Orange. “You are my elders, all of you who have met me and said, ‘I walked into a booth today and I voted for a Black woman.’”