Bill Magnarelli has represented Syracuse in the State Assembly since 1999 and has chaired the Assembly Transportation Committee since 2019. In June 2026 he lost the Democratic primary to County Legislator Mo Brown, a democratic socialist, by about 100 votes. His 28 years in Albany end on Jan. 1, 2027.
So who is Bill Magnarelli, what did he pass, and why did Syracuse Democrats turn him out? The record runs through the state’s Amber Alert law, a Syracuse schools rebuilding framework, a Thruway toll bill vetoed by two governors, street safety bills critics say he stalled, and a primary that DoorDash spent heavily to save.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Democratic
- Hometown
- Syracuse, N.Y.
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in official biographies reviewed
- Current Position
- New York State Assembly, 129th District; chair, Transportation Committee
- Background
- Attorney; former Syracuse Common Council majority leader; former U.S. Army Reserve captain
- In Office Since
- January 1999 (term ends Jan. 1, 2027)
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Magnarelli was born and raised in Syracuse and grew up on the city’s North Side, according to City & State. He attended Our Lady of Pompei School and St. John the Baptist Academy, then earned a history degree from Syracuse University and a law degree with honors from its law school in 1973, according to his Assembly biography.
He served six years in the Army Reserve, reaching the rank of captain, and practiced law for decades at a Syracuse firm. He was married for more than 40 years to Karen, a former city school teacher, who died in 2017. They had three children, Lisa, Bill Jr., and Ann, and he has four grandchildren.
FROM CITY HALL TO ALBANY, 1995 TO 2007
Magnarelli followed his cousin Armond, a former Common Council member, into politics. “Armond basically paved the way for this Magnarelli,” he said, according to Democracy Wise. He joined the Syracuse Common Council in the mid-1990s and served as majority leader until 1998, when he won an open Assembly seat.
His Amber Alert law, Chapter 375 of 2002, brought the child abduction alert system to New York, and Chapter 381 of 2004 expanded it to internet and mobile providers, according to an Assembly release. In 2006 he sponsored the Syracuse Cooperative School Reconstruction Act, which created a joint board to rebuild city schools.
In 2007 he ran for Onondaga County executive and lost to Republican Joanie Mahoney, 68,183 to 42,144 in unofficial results, according to Democracy Wise. Some voters cited his negative TV ads. “I was hoping we were going to make history today, but I guess it will wait for another day and another candidate,” he said. PagPol could not find his Assembly results from 1998 to 2006.
BUILDING SENIORITY, 2008 TO 2018
Magnarelli won reelection in 2008 over Republican Kristen Rounds, 33,668 to 10,549, and in 2010 over Rick Guy, 18,915 to 11,096, according to Ballotpedia. After redistricting renamed his seat the 129th District in 2012, he ran unopposed, then beat Republican Richard Zaccaria in 2014 with 72.1 percent.
His A4772C, carried in the Senate with only one no vote, expanded the Syracuse schools construction board’s powers and became Chapter 459 of 2013, according to the Senate bill page. His Peter Falk’s Law, A3461C, which requires guardians to tell family members when a ward is hospitalized or dies, passed the Senate 61 to 0 and became Chapter 98 of 2016.
In 2017 he passed a bill giving Syracuse area commuters toll-free short trips on the Thruway. Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed it that October, according to the Senate bill record. In 2018 Magnarelli beat Republican Edward Ott and Conservative Michael Hunter with 73.9 percent of the vote.
TRANSPORTATION CHAIR, 2019 TO 2025
In January 2019 Speaker Carl Heastie made Magnarelli chairman of the Transportation Committee. In 2020 he beat Republican Edward Weber with 71.5 percent. In 2021 his committee adjourned without taking up Sammy’s Law, a New York City speed limit bill, or a package of street safety bills, according to Streetsblog. In 2022 he ran without a major party opponent.
In 2024 he passed three transportation laws. A3120A raised penalties for passing a stopped school bus and became Chapter 433 of 2024. A8557 required seat belts for children on charter buses and became Chapter 434, though seven Senate Republicans voted no. A7081B, a Regional Market Authority reform, became Chapter 580, according to the Senate vote record. That fall he won unopposed again.
In January 2025 he introduced A3981, a drugged driving bill allowing roadside saliva tests. In June his revived Thruway pass bill, A225A, meant to ease Syracuse commutes during the Interstate 81 rebuild, passed both houses. “The I-81 project is the largest, most complex transportation infrastructure project in Central New York in a generation,” he said, according to WAER. Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed it in December 2025.
His drugged driving bill, which had 57 co-sponsors, was still sitting in his own committee in February 2026, when Speaker Heastie kept it out of the state budget as a policy matter. “We don’t like doing policy in the budget,” Magnarelli told WRVO.
The underside of the Interstate 81 viaduct along Almond Street in downtown Syracuse. Magnarelli’s Thruway pass bill aimed to ease commutes during the viaduct’s replacement. (Photo: Mr. Matté, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
WHY HE IS LEAVING
Magnarelli did not choose to retire. He sought a 15th term and lost. Brown, an Onondaga County legislator and e-bike rider backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party, challenged him for the 2026 nomination. “Bill’s reluctance to tax the rich definitely pushed me into the race,” Brown said, according to Central Current.
Brown cast him as passive. “He’s just seen himself as the judge, as somebody that should be calling balls and strikes like the umpire,” Brown said, according to Streetsblog. Magnarelli answered, “It’s easy to talk. It’s tougher to get things done.” Sen. Bernie Sanders and State Sen. Rachel May backed Brown, while Hochul backed Magnarelli.
Magnarelli argued experience mattered. “I’m the better person for the job. I’ve been there for 28 years. I know what’s going on,” he said, according to Spectrum News. A super PAC funded by DoorDash, which lobbies on e-bike rules his committee oversees, spent $154,740 supporting him, according to Streetsblog.
The day after the June 23 primary, unofficial results showed Brown ahead 3,365 to 3,283. After about 200 absentee and affidavit ballots were counted, Brown’s lead grew to about 100 votes, according to WRVO. Magnarelli conceded on June 30. “Unfortunately all good things come to an end,” he said. PagPol could not find the certified final count.
The loss was part of a statewide wave. The same night, DSA-backed challengers also beat Assembly incumbents Jennifer Rajkumar, Erik Dilan, and Stefani Zinerman in New York City, according to Spectrum News. Syracuse DSA member Genevieve Garcia Kendrick called Brown’s win Central New York’s “Joe Crowley moment.”
THE DISTRICT AND THE PARTY MATH
The 129th District covers parts of Syracuse, the Town of Geddes including Solvay, and the Town of Van Buren including part of Baldwinsville. WRVO calls it heavily Democratic, and no Republican ran against Magnarelli in 2022 or 2024. PagPol could not retrieve current enrollment. In 2008 the old district had about 29,000 Democrats and 20,000 Republicans.
In Albany, Democrats hold more than 100 of the Assembly’s 150 seats, a two-thirds supermajority, according to Ballotpedia, and they control the Senate and the governor’s office. With Republicans weak, the real fights are inside the Democratic Party. Thirty-two Democratic incumbents faced primaries in 2026.
2024 general election vote share, Central New York Assembly members
MagnarelliDemocratsRepublicans
Each member’s share of all votes cast in the November 2024 general election. Magnarelli and Barclay had no opponent on the ballot; the rest of the vote went to write-ins. Magnarelli’s own share was 76.1 percent in 2008, 63.0 percent in 2010, 72.1 percent in 2014, 73.9 percent in 2018, and 71.5 percent in 2020. Sources: state Board of Elections results compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine; Ballotpedia.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Magnarelli chairs the Transportation Committee and sits on the Economic Development, Education, Steering, and Oversight committees, according to his Assembly biography. He is also a voting member of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council. He has previously chaired the Local Governments, Veterans’ Affairs, and Ethics and Guidance committees.
He prime-sponsored 101 bills and co-sponsored 146 in the 2025 and 2026 session, according to Assembly data in PagPol’s Data Spine. That is more prime-sponsored bills than fellow Central New York Democrats Pamela Hunter, with 92, and Al Stirpe, with 71, and Republican William Barclay, with 54.
Bills introduced as prime sponsor, 2025-26 session, Central New York Assembly members
MagnarelliDemocratsRepublicans
Bills each member introduced as prime sponsor in the 2025 and 2026 session. Counts show bills introduced, not bills passed. Source: New York State Assembly sponsor data, compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine.
HIS VOTING RECORD
PagPol could not retrieve Magnarelli’s individual floor votes from the Assembly’s website. He is a member of the Democratic majority, which passed the 2013 SAFE Act 104 to 43, the 2019 bail and rent laws, and the 2026 budget. His Assembly biography says he voted to cut middle-class taxes and reduce the marriage penalty.
His committee record is clearer. Streetsblog found his committee passed 35 bills in 2025, only three of them on New York City pedestrian and bike safety. Stop Super Speeders, a bill aimed at repeat speeders, did not advance from his committee in 2025. A version passed in the May 2026 budget instead.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
Magnarelli has long tied his work to jobs and schools. “Education is what is going to create the jobs of the future,” he said in 2008. In 2026 he listed health care, housing, education, and infrastructure as priorities. “I’ve got a track record that is second-to-none as far as the things that I’ve been able to do for Central New York,” he told Spectrum News.
He wants upstate drivers to help pay for transit. In February 2026 he and Sen. Jeremy Cooney proposed a $25 registration fee outside New York City. “New York City already has it. Only upstate doesn’t have it. Enough is enough,” he said, according to WAMC. Hochul’s office rejected the idea.
Syracuse City Hall at night. Magnarelli served on the Syracuse Common Council before going to Albany in 1999. (Photo: ZeWrestler, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
In March 2026 Magnarelli had about $216,046 on hand to Brown’s $8,963, according to Central Current. Public matching funds narrowed the gap only slightly. Through June 23 the state approved about $106,173 for Brown and $90,448 for Magnarelli, according to PagPol’s tally of state matching funds reports.
Brown said Magnarelli outspent him five to one. The DoorDash super PAC’s $154,740 came on top of that, though independent spending cannot legally be coordinated with a campaign. In his 2010 race, his largest individual donor was Destiny USA developer Robert Congel and his largest PAC donor was the health care workers union SEIU 1199. PagPol could not retrieve his final 2026 totals.
Money in the 2026 Democratic primary for the 129th District
MagnarelliMo BrownOutside spending
Campaign cash on hand in March 2026, public matching funds approved through June 23, and independent spending by a DoorDash-funded super PAC. Sources: Central Current; New York State Public Campaign Finance Board; Streetsblog.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
Street safety advocates have been his loudest critics. In 2021 Marco Conner DiAquoi of Transportation Alternatives said, “Only reason it is not passed is because Magnarelli is not bringing it up,” of Sammy’s Law. In 2025 former city transportation official Jon Orcutt said, “A chair with an agenda would cut through the crap and try to get actual things done,” according to Streetsblog.
In May 2026 Magnarelli raised doubts about Stop Super Speeders. “How does it work? I mean, really, there are a lot of things about due process,” he said, according to Streetsblog, which called the argument “fatuous.” Brown said in June, “Some of our bad decisions, his footprints are all over those.” PagPol found no ethics complaints or lawsuits against Magnarelli.
The former Baldwinsville village hall, now the village police station. Part of Baldwinsville lies in the Town of Van Buren, in Magnarelli’s district. (Photo: Crazyale, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Magnarelli’s claim of a strong record holds up in part. He wrote the state’s Amber Alert law, the Syracuse schools framework, Peter Falk’s Law, and three 2024 transportation laws. But his best known local cause, toll relief for Syracuse commuters, was vetoed twice, and his transit fee and drugged driving bills did not pass, the latter while sitting in his own committee.
He says his committee focuses on safety, while advocates say he held up street safety bills, one of which, Stop Super Speeders, later passed through the budget. His office’s claims of state money for Syracuse, including $37 million for the Center of Excellence, could not be independently verified. For another Assembly veteran’s record, see PagPol’s profile of Carrie Woerner.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE DISTRICT
A July 2023 comptroller Solvay audit found the Village of Solvay had no budget for its electric fund, whose net assets fell about $9 million over five years, and overspent 31 general fund lines by nearly $1.2 million. A 2020 audit found a Town of Geddes clerk received $6,000 in improper insurance buyouts.
A February 2026 Syracuse schools audit found the Syracuse City School District had 488 unneeded nonstudent network accounts, 433 of them unused for more than six months. A 2016 review of the same district’s claims process found that 15 payments totaling $1.85 million had been made without purchase orders.
LOOKING AHEAD
On Nov. 3, 2026, Brown faces Republican Shawn Fiato, a former Onondaga County legislator, for the open seat. Magnarelli’s name will not be on the ballot, and his term ends Jan. 1, 2027. For more, visit PagPol’s Onondaga County page or subscribe to the Onondaga County newsletter.
