As Matt Driscoll gave his victory speech on the monitor at the Hotel Syracuse on Tuesday, Liz Golembeski, Joseph Shandling and Jen Bloom drank bottles of Bud Light, dejected.

They had each worked countless hours making signs and on phone banks in support of Councilor-at-Large Kate O’Connell’s campaign for mayor. But just minutes after O’Connell had made her concession speech, the trio had nothing more to do.

‘I drove down from Ithaca in horrendous weather so I could be here,’ Bloom said.

Less than 10 minutes down North Salina Street, the mood was similar at fellow candidate and Councilor-at-Large Joe O’Hara’s headquarters. Although the lavish spreads of catered food and a fully stocked bar were replaced with baking pans full of homemade snacks and cans of beer, the disappointment was the same.

‘Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you,’ O’Hara said. ‘Tonight, the bear got me.’

Meanwhile, in the home of City Auditor Minch Lewis, supporter and LeMoyne College sophomore political science major Maras Povinelli tried to search for a bright spot in the dismal results.

‘I’m disappointed, but this may be a time to build for the future,’ Povinelli said.

In the final tally, O’Connell lost by about 28 percent despite being shown in a poll published Sept. 9 to be in a statistical dead heat with Driscoll. Gov. George E. Pataki postponed the primaries, originally scheduled for Sept. 11, because of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

Besides her request for a moment of silence, O’Connell did not mention the reason why the voting was delayed during her concession speech. Many of her supporters, however, thought that the election may have turned out differently if it had been two weeks ago.

‘Incumbency is tough,’ said William Covington, a union member and O’Connell backer, ‘even more so when there is a war crisis.’

Covington went on to say that had the elections been Sept. 11, the Hotel Syracuse crowd would still have been awaiting word on who came out on top instead of mourning defeat.

One O’Hara supporter, Tom Naughton thought that any and all politicking done after the terrorist attacks felt awkward.

‘It just didn’t feel the same,’ Naughton said ‘It didn’t feel appropriate.’

Naughton made his efforts for O’Hara a family affair by going door-to-door campaigning with his two sons, Brian and Shawn.

‘This is all our hard work guys,’ Naughton said to his two children before the results had come in. ‘This is what it all comes down to.’

O’Hara characterized his camp as disappointed but not disheartened. He thanked his supporters for running a great campaign and for sticking with him from the beginning.

‘We didn’t have the deepest pockets,’ O’Hara said. ‘But we had the deepest message.’

Lewis, who will retain his position as city auditor, looks forward to working with Driscoll and hopes that many of the issues he focused on during his campaign can be worked into the Democratic candidate’s strategy.

‘I hope to work with Matt,’ said Lewis, a graduate of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. ‘As city auditor, I will be able to step back and evaluate the financial realities of the city and comment on the issues — that’s healthy.’

When all was said and done, O’Connell supporter Lois Needham summed up the feeling of all three camps.

‘I thought we would win,’ Needham said.

Published on November 23, 2002 at 12:00 pm