The Democratic nominee for the Tompkins County Legislature’s District 7 seat, John V. Dennis, withdrew from the race last week.
Instead, Dennis is encouraging residents to vote for current county legislator Deborah Dawson. Dawson announced her run for the seat in early September, launching a campaign as a write-in candidate.
“Legislator Dawson has ably represented District 10 for more than seven years, and her decision to seek a third four-year term—while late in coming—is a testament to her dedication to public service,” Dennis wrote in his endorsement.
Dennis added that Dawson’s leadership experience will help her confront emerging challenges for Tompkins County. The county is facing significant turnover in the legislature and has several new hires in key county positions.
Dawson said she had not planned to run again, and was even looking forward to taking a step back from the legislature. However, in September, she changed her mind.
“It seemed to me that it might be a good idea to keep as many experienced people as we could, especially as we're headed into a kind of fiscal dumpster fire with what's going on in Washington and how that will trickle down through Albany,”
Dawson said the county should be bracing for the impacts of the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed in July.
The New York State Association of Counties has warned that the bill is likely to be expensive for local governments. The organization estimated that New York City and counties across the state will be hit with $1.3 billion in costs stemming from changes to SNAP and Medicaid alone.
Although he is no longer running, Dennis will still appear as the only candidate for the seat printed on the ballot. Those wishing to vote for Dawson or Joshua Jahani, a third party candidate, will have to mark the write-in option on their ballot and write down the name of their chosen candidate