Syracuse, NY — A Syracuse City Court Judge, appointed to the bench earlier this year, is seeking her first electoral victory against a perennial challenger who says his “guerilla” campaign -- with little money -- is still important for democracy.
Judge Erica T. Clarke, 41, a Democrat, said she’s been thrilled serving her first year on the city bench, after stints as a City Court prosecutor, defense lawyer and assistant City Hall lawyer.
“I’m from Syracuse. I’ve lived in Syracuse most of my life,” Clarke said. “All of my friends I’ve made here. My family came from here. My roots are here. It’s not just about that, it’s being able to do the job. I think my experience is right for this job.”
After growing up in the city, Clarke graduated Florida Coastal School of Law before returning home, interning and then working in the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office. She later took a job in the city’s law department before operating a criminal defense practice.
She was appointed to the bench in January of this year by Mayor Ben Walsh, filling a vacancy left by Judge Rory McMahon’s promotion to a higher court.
Her Republican challenger, Jason Zeigler, has run for City Court every year there’s been an opening since 2017. He’s never come close to winning in a city dominated by registered Democrats: there were 41,415 registered Democrats at last count versus 9,618 Republicans.
Zeigler has never garnered any significant amount of campaign cash: he’s brought in less than $1,000, as of his last campaign filing. Clarke has raised $5,500 so far.
“It’s always kind of been a guerilla campaign -- low funding,” Zeigler said.
Zeigler, who splits his legal career between Family Court and criminal courts -- including City Court, said it’s still important to have a challenger on the ballot, regardless of the odds.
“We should have a contested race,” he said.
An Ohio native, Zeigler served four years in the U.S. Army before graduating SU’s law school. He’s run his own law practice here ever since.
Zeigler has cited his experience in past years battling for more money to represent poor clients; a complaint that was vindicated by a landmark lawsuit that ended in a multi-million dollar investment in the county’s indigent counsel program.
City Court judges serve 10-year terms with a salary of roughly $190,000 a year. They handle cases involving misdemeanors and violations -- from minor assaults to traffic tickets -- as well as landlord-tenant disputes and civil matters involving low amounts of money. They also sign warrants and are the first judges to arraign and potentially set bail on felony cases.
A year ago, the City Court job was in the spotlight after city voters rejected the Democratic Party’s candidates, instead electing two women from diverse backgrounds -- one African-American, one Arab-American -- who had marched during the Black Lives Matter protests.
This year, the party solidified behind Clarke without any primary. Zeigler, who last year also collected enough signatures to be in the Democratic primary, this year is running only on the Republican and Conservative lines.
Clarke said she’d like a 10-year term to tackle specific issues as judge. Right now, she heads a court aimed at dealing with animal cruelty. She admires work her colleagues do on human trafficking court, housing court and other specialty courts that tackle big issues.
When asked what he’d do if he actually won, Zeigler didn’t miss a beat: “I’d start work.”
Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.