Following a mandatory recount earlier this month, Democrat Christina Charuk MAT ‘19 has officially been declared the winner of the Johnson City mayoral race, defeating incumbent Republican Mayor Martin Meaney by just 11 votes with over 2,500 ballots cast. Her term will start in January 2026.

On Election Day, Nov. 4, preliminary results showed Meaney leading by nine votes. After mail-in and affidavit ballots were counted on Nov. 10, Charuk inched forward and was ahead by 13 votes, triggering an automatic recount under state law that requires a race to be recounted if a candidate is leading by 20 votes or less.

“I feel energized and honored,” Charuk, who was also the Working Families Party candidate, wrote to Pipe Dream. “This election showed how much people care about the future of Johnson City and I’m ready to get to work for them.”

Charuk will become the first woman to serve as mayor of Johnson City. She officially launched her mayoral campaign in June.

“I followed politics really closely,” Charuk told Pipe Dream in an interview. “I like government work. I’ve worked in education and nonprofits my whole life, so most of my life has been influenced by political decision making.”

She is a third-generation Johnson City resident and the grandchild of Ukrainian immigrants. Charuk is also president of the Binghamton branch of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, where she organizes events and rallies in support of the local Ukrainian community.

At an August 2024 flag-raising ceremony at Binghamton City Hall honoring Ukrainian Independence Day, Charuk said the day reminds people “of the enduring power of the human spirit and the relentless pursuit of self-determination.”

In 2019, Charuk earned her master’s in teaching adolescent English education from Binghamton University and is certified to teach English for New York students in seventh through 12th grade, having taught locally at both the Binghamton and Whitney Point High Schools. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in education at the University.

Charuk is also a substance abuse prevention specialist and community education partnership strategist at CASA-Trinity, a recovery service for alcohol and substance abuse in Tioga County.

As mayor, Charuk hopes to increase transparency and communication between residents and Village Hall, telling Pipe Dream she plans to be “aggressively inviting residents to participate in the village board meetings.” Johnson City holds public board meetings on Tuesdays twice a month.

Charuk said she wants these meetings to be available online with closed captioning to improve accessibility for those with disabilities while accommodating residents’ work schedules and transportation needs.

She also wants to continue talking to residents on listening tours and conduct SWOT analyses in all or most village departments, a technique that outlines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization.

While some trustees on the Johnson City Village Board were concerned about how a new administration would affect development and small businesses, Charuk said she wants to support the revitalization of Johnson City.

“What I want to do is streamline it, make it easier for folks who want to come in, who want to have businesses in Johnson City, make it easier for them and make it easier for us to attract that,” Charuk said.

Among her goals is to organize a Johnson City Restaurant Week as part of her initiative to support small businesses. The city of Binghamton hosts its own Restaurant Week twice a year through eatBING, Inc., a nonprofit offering discounted menus from local restaurants.

Her victory comes as Jared Kraham, the incumbent Republican mayor of Binghamton, won a second term in office with around 52.5 percent of votes cast.

Charuk said she is planning to meet with University President Anne D’Alleva to discuss BU’s relationship with the village. The University’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences and its School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences are located in Johnson City.

“We’re a small village,” Charuk said. “It’s only four square miles, but we’ve got so much heart.”