Rachel Ostlund announces campaign for county legislature

Rachel Ostlund, an entrepreneur who has lived most of her life in Tompkins County, seeks the Democratic nomination to represent District 16, which includes the Town of Ulysses and part of the Town of Enfield, on the Tompkins County Legislature. 

“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,” said Ostlund. “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.”

“I’m running for legislature because I care deeply about the present and future of this community – 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, ” said Ostlund. “I’m also running because of the chaos that is happening at the federal level right now, which is destructive and destabilizing. The effect of this is already being felt here and will continue to be felt for years to come. 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. We will need to have a thoughtful and coordinated response on the County level in order to mitigate the fallout from what the federal government is doing right now.

It’s also our collective responsibility to ensure that the most vulnerable residents of the County are protected and cared for, especially when they are being targeted by many of these new policies.”

Ostlund has lived in Tompkins County most of her life. After graduating from Ithaca High School, Ostlund traveled the United States, volunteering in AmeriCorps, teaching environmental education in Tennessee, co-founding a student-run organic farm in Connecticut, working and living in rural northern Georgia, doing field botany work in Arizona, and starting her first business at a farmers market in Montana. During this time, Ostlund also earned her BS in Plant Science from Cornell University, and has worked on organic vegetable farms around Tompkins County.

Ostlund has started and run a number of successful businesses in Tompkins County, including 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.

For the past three years Ostlund has been a volunteer with No Más Lágrimas, helping with a weekly free food distribution and managing the procurement from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier. She served on the board of the Jacksonville Community Association, and currently is part of a community organizing coalition at the United Way of Tompkins County.

As the next District 16 representative for Tompkins County, Ostlund will bring her lived experience as a lifelong resident, a small business owner, an entrepreneur, a parent and a connected community member to ensure that we can live in the world we all deserve. Ostlund said she brings long standing relationships with many people from a wide variety of communities around Tompkins County. She strongly believes in protecting the rights of all community members, and in particular those who are currently under attack by the federal government — in particular, the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, and immigrants (including documented, undocumented and under-documented people, as well as asylum seekers and refugees).

Ostlund has lived in Jacksonville for the past 8 years with her partner Silas Conroy, her 5 year old daughter (an enthusiastic and delightful pre-k student at Trumansburg Elementary), and her curious and sweet 2.5 yr old son. 

The Democratic Primary Election will be on June 24, 2025. The General Election will be held on Nov. 4.