Rep. Brandon Williams and state Sen. John Mannion faced off in their first debate Tuesday night. The pair of Congressional candidates sparred over critical issues facing central New Yorkers, including the economy, housing and abortion rights.
The debate, moderated by Syracuse.com and held at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, comes just weeks ahead of the November election, with both candidates vying for control of New York’s 22nd Congressional District.
The candidates described contrasting visions for the region in one of the country’s most competitive districts. Cook Political Report rated the district as “lean Democrat,” making it the only district in the nation rated by Cook as leaning toward the opposite party of the incumbent.
Inflation
Williams, a former U.S. Navy officer, attributed the cause of the last two years’ record inflation to the current White House administration and “reckless Biden spending,” a dig at President Joe Biden.
While Williams said the federal government needed to reduce spending, he said it also needs to enact “common sense” energy and infrastructure policies to reduce costs. He did not cite an energy policy he supported to reduce costs.
Williams added that the current administration’s border policies have driven down wages, making tackling the challenges of inflation all the more difficult. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wages in the United States have increased about 21% since the first quarter of 2020. Inflation has increased about 22% over the same time period.
Mannion said the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on global supply chains largely caused inflation. He highlighted his actions in the State Senate to alleviate the burden on Americans through tax cuts, a child tax credit and property tax relief measures in New York state.
“I do believe that we will get through this. Inflation is going down. Interest rates are going down, and we’re meeting the day and listening to the people,” Mannion said.
Tax policy
The candidates clashed over tax policy, particularly the 2017 GOP tax cuts put in place during former President Donald J. Trump’s administration.
Williams defended the cuts, which lowered the corporate tax rate from a tiered system to a flat rate of 21%. He said lower corporate taxes spur economic growth and create jobs while saying Mannion has a “tax and spend” strategy.
The incumbent also defended the State and Local Tax deduction cap, which he said he would want adjusted for inflation. Previously, there was no cap on SALT deductions.
Mannion did not explicitly say whether he would support increasing the corporate tax rate. Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris supports raising the rate while Trump supports reducing it.
He did say that corporations have benefitted from federal subsidies, criticizing stock buybacks and corporate price gouging. Mannion said corporations need to be held accountable, but he did not say how he planned to do that.
Mannion supports an end to the SALT deduction cap, he said.
“Corporate taxes are more complicated, but what we’ve seen over the course of the past few years are record profits by corporations, CEO salaries expanding (to be) upwards of 40 times more than the average worker,” he said. “Corporations and the ultra wealthy do need to pay their fair share.”
Abortion
The candidates expressing their divergent views on abortion were among the most contentious moments in the debate.
Mannion said he supports protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion. Williams said that he is pro-life but supports a person’s right to an abortion in instances of incest, rape and when the mother’s life is at risk.
In political ads, Mannion has said Williams supports a federal abortion ban, which Williams denied Tuesday night. Williams accused Mannion’s ads of peddling a “brazen, bold lie.” The incumbent said he believes abortion is a state issue rather than a federal one.
Mannion countered by saying that Williams has previously called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “monumental victory.”
Poverty
Both candidates leaned on competing visions of how education could lift Central New Yorkers out of poverty when they were asked about solving the problem in CNY.
Syracuse has the second-worst rate of child poverty in the nation.
Williams said he’s fought for funding for Syracuse’s poverty problem by helping bring $50 million federal funding for the redevelopment of public housing and more money for a YMCA in the same neighborhood.
He said he also backs school choice to get children in the city better education.
“Having the choice of education to give them the very best and to give them that mobility, I think is … one of the best paths to opportunity that we can have,” Williams said.
Mannion also leaned on education as a way to lift Central New Yorkers out of poverty. He said he would ensure public schools are fully funded and that parents have access to universal pre-kindergarten.
He, like Williams, also cited the city’s 15th ward and Interstate 81 as an area of change.
The city is still feels the impact of the structural racism that built the highway, “so we have to be intentional,” Mannion said.
Housing
Mannion used his record in the state senate to support why he’s the candidate to help solve Central New York’s housing crisis.
He highlighted the money included in the 2024-25 state budget that would support infill housing and housing repairs in Central New York.
He also said he believes in incentives for developers who build elder-care housing, housing for people with disabilities and affordable housing.
“The pathway to generational wealth often comes from home ownership, so we have to strip away as many barriers as possible so that new families can afford and can secure first-time homeowner loans,” Mannion said.
Williams believes the price of housing will drop with more supply. He said that regulations in New York make new and affordable housing more difficult to build but did not cite specific regulations he believed in repealing.
“We’ve just seen the horizon for young people to be able to get into a house get further and further out,” Williams said.
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