Rep. John Mannion has said he'd advocate against the passage of the SAVE America Act, which he believes could hurt voting access in the United States. Credit: Surya Vaidy | Central Current

John Mannion has unseated incumbent Rep. Brandon Williams, a Republican, winning New York’s 22nd Congressional District. 

Williams conceded to Mannion on Tuesday night and called Mannion during Mannion’s press conference to congratulate him.

The Associated Press projected Mannion’s victory with about 84% of the vote counted in the district. Mannion holds a lead of more than 24,000 votes.

As Mannion delivered his acceptance speech, surrounded by family and political surrogates, he called the U.S. a nation divided. He said Republicans need to be willing to accept electoral losses and work with Democrats to serve their constituents. 

“We need to elect people that understand that they represent every person in their district, regardless of whether they voted for them, they didn’t vote for them or they didn’t vote at all,” he said. “We gotta get there.”

Mannion said he wants to work to restore abortion protections lost in the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision of 2022, where justices deliberated that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. He also wants to ensure government systems are equitable and just. 

“We still have challenging times ahead,” Mannion said. “This is a night to celebrate, but we’ve got lots of work to do.”

Williams left the Republicans’ election watch party without answering questions from reporters.

“I think the hour belongs to John,” Williams said.

Mannion will be the first Democrat to represent Syracuse’s Congressional District since Dan Maffei, whose term ended in 2015.

The race between Mannion and Williams was pegged as one of the most competitive, drawing national attention. It was rated as one of the most flippable Congressional seats for Democrats. 

This is breaking news and will be updated with more information.

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Chris Libonati is the managing editor of Central Current. He is a founding editorial member of the organization and was hired as Central Current's first reporter. He previously worked at the Syracuse Post-Standard...

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