As Democratic candidates declared victory in key races across the country, incumbent Republican Mayor Jared Kraham narrowly won a second term in office in the City of Binghamton. Local Republicans also kept their hold on the county clerk’s office, with Republican Aaron Martin defeating Democrat Nick Libous for the seat.

Elected in 2021 as the city’s youngest mayor, Kraham defeated Democrat Miles Burnett, a South Side native who served as deputy chief of staff to State Sen. Lea Webb ‘04 from 2023 to 2024. Kraham won 53.9 percent of the vote, a margin of a little over eight points over Burnett.

“I plan to be a mayor of all the people of the City of Binghamton, not just the folks who voted for me,” Kraham said in his acceptance speech at the Broome County Republicans’ election watch party. “And that’s what I’ve been doing these last four years. We’ve been fighting and clawing for a better Binghamton for everyone.”

The son of Jeffrey Kraham, who served as Broome County Executive from 1997 to 2004, Jared Kraham previously served as the city’s deputy mayor from 2014 to 2021. He ran for reelection on the Republican and Conservative Parties’ ballot lines.

In an interview with several press outlets after his victory speech, Kraham said he plans to “build consensus” and approach problems such as the recent unavailability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in a “bipartisan way.”

“I would say that there are three political parties in America,” Kraham said in an interview with Pipe Dream. “There’s Republicans, there’s Democrats, and there’s mayors. And the mayors are the group that I am most proud to be a part of.”

This year’s mayoral race was rife with controversy, with several unexpected developments and personal attacks from both candidates. This election cycle saw several debates where the candidates traded insults about the handling of the resignation of Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski, responses to the city’s current housing crisis and the redevelopment of the Binghamton Plaza.

In September, further controversy arose following the resurfacing of a 2009 YouTube video showing Burnett saying the N-word twice while analyzing lyrics to a rap song.

Burnett conceded the race at the Broome County Democrats’ watch party for the election.

“We didn’t just run a campaign, we started a conversation about the kind of city that we want to be,” Burnett said. “And while tonight did not bring the results that we had hoped for. I want to remind everyone in this room, please hear me when I say that progress is not linear. Change rarely happens all at once. It happens step by step through every door knocked, every conversation had, every person who chooses to believe in what we can achieve tomorrow and that we can bring a new day here in our city.”

Aaron Martin, the Republican nominee for county clerk, clinched a victory over Nick Libous, the Democratic nominee for the post. Martin is the current clerk of the Broome County Legislature and is the president of the New York State Association of Clerks of County Legislative Boards.

The Broome County Clerk seat was vacated after Joseph A. Mihalko, the incumbent, announced he would not be running for another term.

“This is really about knowing people, doing a job, building relationships with people, regardless of party affiliation,” said Martin. “And if the local office shows you anything, it shows you that. That people can get along with each other without fighting over everything.”

Incumbent City Council representative Carla Murray, who represents the first district, won a full term against Republican challenger Kevin Micha. Murray, who was appointed in February to the City Council following the resignation of Olamni Porter, secured 59.74 percent of the vote compared to Micha’s 40.15 percent.

In her acceptance speech, she thanked those who worked for her campaign and said she was “excited to be able to continue” serving her constituents in the First Ward

Other Binghamton council members, including Michael Dundon, Rebecca Rathmell, Nate Hotchkiss ‘12 and Robert Cavanaugh, were at the Democratic watch party. Vestal Town Supervisor Maria Sexton and State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo MA’ 84 also attended.

For Vestal Town Council, incumbent Suzanne Messina and newcomer Matt Padbury, both Democrats, clinched the two seats up for grabs and beat Republicans Andrew A. Gowe and William A. Stewart.

Democrats across the country declared victory in this year’s most closely watched races. In Virginia, former Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in that state’s gubernatorial race. Jay Jones, a Democratic state legislator who drew controversy for a series of three-year-old texts where he joked about the then- Republican speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, narrowly won his race to become that state’s next attorney general.

Martin P. Meaney, the incumbent mayor of Johnson City, currently leads Democratic candidate Christina Charuk by only nine votes as of Wednesday morning. Under state law, a recount is required if the margin of votes is less than 20.

In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat and former naval officer representing the state’s 11th congressional district, defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli by a 56.3 to 43.1 percent margin as of 2:24 a.m. Wednesday, a roughly seven-point overperformance from former Vice President Kamala Harris’ six-point victory last year in the state. Sherrill will be New Jersey’s first elected female Democratic governor.

In a race that garnered significant national attention, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City. The race, called by the Associated Press at 9:34 p.m., saw Mamdani — who won the June Democratic primary in an upset — garner 50.4 percent of the votes, compared to former New York governor and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo’s 41.6 percent and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa’s 7.1 percent, as of 1:29 a.m. Wednesday.

A statewide proposal to allow the construction of an Olympic sports complex on forest land in Essex County, New York has not been called as of 2:06 a.m. The proposition will amend the state constitution to permit ski and trail facilities on state forest preserve land and add 2,500 acres of forest land to the Adirondack Park.

Voters in California approved Proposition 50, which will allow the state legislature to temporarily redraw the state’s congressional districts in response to the Texas legislature’s approval of a map redraw to give state Republicans a better shot at winning congressional seats.

“I have all the utmost confidence in our candidates to be successful,” Benji Federman, chair of the Broome County Republicans, said in an interview with Pipe Dream. “I’ve seen them work incredibly hard. It is very difficult to run for office these days because of the public pressure, because of the scrutiny of running for office and all that. And so, being able to see these candidates who put themselves out there, run for office and see them to be successful is just very rewarding for me as a chair.”

Editor’s Note (11/5/25): This article was updated to correct Mikie Sherill’s status as the first female Democrat elected as New Jersey’s governor.