Ostlund declares for Koreman seat; Foote withdraws; Enfield incumbents eye easy re-nomination
by Robert Lynch; March 17, 2025
Barring a last-minute surprise, Enfield Democrats—and for that matter, Republicans—will find no need for a June primary as they sort out their nominees for this November’s off-year elections. Indeed, unless new faces emerge, the local November ballot could prove pretty boring.
The most likely prospect for a intra-party primary battle quietly evaporated eight days ago as Ulysses progressive David Foote withdrew his short-lived campaign for the Tompkins County Legislature. When he did, Foote threw his support to Jacksonville food entrepreneur and wedding planner Rachel Ostlund, who now appears gliding unopposed toward securing the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring incumbent legislator Anne Koreman, whose newly-redrawn District 16 includes northern Enfield, all of Ulysses, and a slice of the Town of Ithaca.
“Rachel who?” you might ask. “David who?” you’d ask as well. Neither candidate is a household name, at least not in Enfield. Neither is known to have held prior elective office. At least neither of their biographies speak to it.
And unless you were a petition-carrying party activist, or happen to read a soft-ball, puffy profile that ran March 7 in one local paper, you wouldn’t have known that Ostlund was even in the race.
“I believe that with creativity and an open minded approach to collective problem solving, we can build a Tompkins County where we all can live and thrive,” Ostlund stated to Tompkins Weekly, whose story byline was simply stated as, “Uploaded by Staff” (meaning that Ostlund’s campaign likely wrote the story itself).
“We deserve a community where we all have access to affordable housing, healthful food, clean air and water, equitable education, affirming and respectful healthcare, affordable childcare, meaningful work that pays a living wage, and the right to live free from oppression and violence in all its forms,” Ostlund’s campaign rollout continued, quite transparently hitting every single liberal button cliché.
But in an off-year election year when the progressive rallying cry is “Run for Something!” the message appears to have fallen on deaf ears among others in the Enfield Democratic constituency.
With pre-primary party petitioning for the fall elections now at about its mid-point, an informed local Democratic official advises this writer that not a single member of the party has emerged to challenge Republican incumbent Randy Brown in his legislative district that includes southern Enfield and Newfield. Likewise, another party official indicates that for the Enfield Town offices up for election this year, only the incumbents have chosen to petition.
Lack of competition for party nominations would cancel Enfield’s otherwise-scheduled June 24 primary.
Local Republicans in Enfield have not announced any plans to seize offices now held by elected Democrats. For his part, County Legislator Brown has already said he’s running in the Newfield-Enfield district.. The GOP has not said whether it will compete in Koreman’s heavily-Democratic district to Brown’s north.
Meanwhile, for Enfield Town offices, the only petitions now known to be circulating are those for the incumbents; namely three-term Supervisor Stephanie Redmond, and two-term Councilpersons Cassandra Hinkle and Jude Lemke. (Two other Enfield Councilpersons seats are not up for election until 2027.)
Incumbent Town Clerk Mary Cornell, a Democrat, is known to be running. Incumbent Highway Superintendent Barry “Buddy” Rollins, a Republican, is said to be petitioning as well. No Democrat has yet emerged to challenge Rollins. A party official has suggested Democrats may cross-endorse Rollins instead, just as they did two years ago.
Where a June Democratic primary could have emerged—but now apparently won’t—was in the northern Enfield/Ulysses district where Rachel Ostlund will likely secure an unopposed nomination to the Tompkins County Legislature. For a while, another Ulysses Democrat wanted the job for himself.
David Foote’s campaign to succeed two-term Democratic incumbent Anne Koreman wasn’t widely known until it was already over. The Trumansburg Road resident announced his withdrawal from the race March 9, two days after Rachel Ostlund’s press profile was published.
On his short-lived campaign’s Facebook page post March 1, Foote announced “I’m putting finishing touches on a website for my campaign and expect to have it published soon!” It may never have happened. Eight days after his proclamation, Foote pulled the plug.
“I am backing off the campaign for county legislature district 16,” David Foote wrote, again on Facebook, March 9. “This follows a lot of thought and direct conversations with volunteers, local allies, and others who have offered support.”
David Foote continued:
“Last year, I was asked if I would consider running for the open seat. Having supported a number of local campaigns and familiar with the process, I started planning, meeting with local groups, and studying up on county processes. However, the time requirements and pressures of running a campaign from my dining room have been affecting my health and ability to focus on my day job and other commitments.”
Side-by-side, the platforms and points of political passion for David Foote and the fellow progressive he endorsed, Rachel Ostlund, reveal little sunlight between them. Legislator Anne Koreman has represented her district for the past nearly eight years from the center-Left. Whether it was David Foote or Rachel Ostlund, one could—and can—expect an even more leftward tug.
From David Foote’s endorsement: “My goal was to make sure we continue a trend of progressive, community-based representation for the district,” Foote said as he withdrew his candidacy. “I believe that Rachel will be an advocate for resilient social services, affordable housing, local agriculture, and protecting the rights of our community, and that she will be attentive and responsive to the needs of people in the district,” Foote stated.
And from Rachel Ostlund’s self-scripted profile in Tompkins Weekly:
“I am committed to raising my family here, and it matters to me that Tompkins County is a welcoming, inclusive, livable, affordable, safe and vibrant place for every person,” Ostlund wrote.
And make no mistake, the presumptive Democratic nominee knows who it is who won last year’s Presidential election and what he stands for.
“I’m also running because of the chaos that is happening at the federal level right now, which is destructive and destabilizing,” Ostlund informed the paper. “We are entering into a period of extreme uncertainty, especially around federal funding – and the programs and services that many of us and our neighbors rely on are on extremely shaky ground.”
An Ithaca High School and Cornell University graduate, Rachel Ostlund has lived in Tompkins County most of her life. She’s served as an AmeriCorps volunteer, taught environmental education in Tennessee, co-founded a student-run organic farm in Connecticut, performed field botany work in Arizona, and started her first business at a farmers market in Montana.
Ostlund’s closer-to-home business ventures have included the Iron Owl Kitchen, a prepared foods business at the Ithaca Farmers Market, the Sweet Bough Wedding Collective, and Kinship & Company, a business “focused on planning inclusive and meaningful weddings and events,” as Ostlund described it.
Ostlund and her partner live in Jacksonville and have two young children.
“She loves to build and fix things,” Rachel’s campaign website biography said of the candidate. “She loves people and thinks we all deserve the world.”
Rachel Ostlund will likely carry the Democratic Party banner into the fall as prospective successor to Anne Koreman on the Tompkins County Legislature. Other Democrats, should they choose, hold the power to force a primary providing they gather sufficient petition signatures before April 3. Independent candidates, if any, whether for the County Legislature or for local town offices, may circulate their petitions between mid-April and late-May.
But unless something changes soon, local elections this year could prove themselves to be a parade of cakewalk coronations. And for democracy’s sake, that’s a situation that’s always less than good.
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