In campaign cash, Democratic challenger Ed Szczesniak is running ahead in the District 3 race of the Onondaga County Legislature.

Szczesniak has raised $26,799 since Jan. 1, according to reports filed with the New York State Board of Elections. His fundraising outpaces Republican incumbent Bill Meyer, who has raised $14,699 for the campaign.

“I would have been happy to just be competitive with him,” Szczesniak said. “But I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to raise more money to get our message out.”

Szczesniak, a veteran of Democratic politics from Cicero, is running his first race for Onondaga County Legislature in District 3. The district covers most of Cicero and the northern section of Manlius. He is challenging Republican Bill Meyer, the legislature’s chairman. Meyer was first elected 20 years ago.

The election is Nov. 3.

Here’s an overview of Szczesniak’s fundraising for his campaign:

• 80 percent — or $20,754 — of his contributions are from within Onondaga County.
• Of that,7 percent — or $1,845 — of donations comes from within District 3.
• Unions gave 13 percent — or $3,400 — of his campaign money.
• Of the total contributions, 4 percent — or $1,150 — came from local political action committees, groups that raise money to give to candidates and campaigns.

PAC contributions came from the organizations of Assemblyman Al Stirpe, state Sen. David Valesky and County Legislator Bill Kinne of District 15. All are Democrats.

Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll, also a Democrat, donated $250 to Szczesniak’s campaign.

Clyde Ohl, of Camillus, is chairman of the Onondaga Environmental Institute and a former Democratic Onondaga County legislator. It is not often, Ohl said, that a challenger is able to outraise the incumbent in local races. “It is very unusual that a well-established incumbent would be behind by so much,” Ohl said. “It shows that Ed is a pretty darn good fundraiser.”

Smaller local campaigns, like County Legislature races, don’t always draw large corporate donations, Ohl said. “These kinds of races require a more personal campaign with the individual voters,” Ohl said. “That style also has to be true of a candidate’s fundraising.”

Szczesniak’s fundraising relies heavily on small and individual donations:

• 78 named individuals have donated to the campaign. That’s 77 percent of his donors.
• 69 of them  -- or 68 percent — gave less than $500.
• 59 people — or 58 percent -- donated $200 or less.
• Donations of less than $500 account for 58 percent — or $15,579 — of total contributions.

Fundraising is important, Szczesniak said, because it can give voters evidence of the support for a candidate. He added: “I hope that is true in this race.”

(Dan Scorpio is a junior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and political science.)

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