John Mannion will represent the Democratic Party in the race for the 22nd Congressional District after winning Tuesday night’s primary.
The Associated Press called the race for Mannion at 10:22 p.m.
Mannion, currently a New York State senator, beat Sarah Klee Hood, a DeWitt town councilor. He has about 62% of the district’s votes with 96% of the vote in, according to the AP. The district includes portions of Onondaga, Oneida, Madison, Cayuga and Cortland counties.
The state senator will face incumbent Rep. Brandon Williams. Mannion’s win sets him up for what will likely be a heated clash.
Mannion beat Klee Hood by running up his vote count in Onondaga County. He bested Klee Hood by more than 7,000 votes in Onondaga County, more than the 6,155-vote margin in the race, according to AP tabulations.
Mannion celebrated his win Tuesday night at the Emerald Cocktail Kitchen, a bar in the Tipp Hill neighborhood. He was surrounded by supporters, political surrogates, and family as he gave a speech declaring victory.
“We are going to bring this country together,” Mannion said.
The senator’s speech honed in on unity among Democrats. Mannion called for positive campaigning, alluding to what he described as attacks from Klee Hood who he said questioned his record on reproductive rights and environmentally friendly policies on the campaign trail.
“What was proved tonight is that we did not positively reinforce negative campaigning,” Mannion said. “It didn’t matter what came at me, it didn’t matter if you were going to question my record on reproductive rights, or my environmental record, or anything else, it did not matter.”
What the general election holds
About 15 minutes before the Associated Press called the Democratic primary, Williams unleashed a series of tweets about Mannion. He accused Mannion of “siding with far-left radicals” and blamed the state senator for inflation in Central New York, a region Williams also currently represents.
National pundits have rated Williams as one of the House of Representatives’ most vulnerable incumbents. Cook Political Report rated NY-22 as “lean Democrat” despite Williams’ incumbency. Williams is the only incumbent — Democrat or Republican — to be running in a district Cook believes leans toward the opposite party.
Despite Williams’ perceived disadvantage, the incumbent has a massive fundraising lead over Mannion. According to Open Secrets, Williams has raised almost $2.4 million, nearly three times more than Mannion, and has just over $1 million in cash on hand, five times more than Mannion.
Klee Hood gave Mannion a tepid endorsement at her watch party. After initially declining to specifically endorse Mannion, Klee Hood said, “It’s imperative that we’re all in this big blue tent in the Democratic party. If we truly want to see change, we have to make sure we rally to beat Brandon Williams.”
At Tuesday’s election party, Mannion said pitching a big tent to house the different political ideologies and constituencies within the Democratic Party will be key to flipping the district.
“We need all of you. We need progressives and moderates,” Mannion said. “We need people who want to work together. We need independents. We need people from every religious background, every walk of life. We need members of the LGBTQ community, and we need our former candidates in this race.”
Other election results
New York State Senate District 50
Onondaga County legislator and labor union leader Chris Ryan defeated labor organizer Tom Drumm in the 50th state Senate District’s Democratic primary, garnering around 52% of the vote to Drumm’s 37%, according to unofficial election results from the New York State Board of Elections.
The 50th Senate District encompasses parts of the counties of Onondaga and Oswego, and as of this February holds more active registered Republicans, state board of elections data shows.
Ryan, the Democratic Minority Leader in the County Legislature and a union president representing Verizon workers in the region, will now face Republican Nick Paro, who serves as the town of Salina’s supervisor.
“Our staff worked hard. The victory is a testament to the hard work we put into it,” Ryan told Central Current from his election party at Home Team Pub in Liverpool. “We had a good message. We were out knocking on doors and listening to voters.”
The district’s voter demographics suggest an uphill battle awaits Ryan as he seeks to keep the seat blue. Mannion, the district’s current representative in the state senate, beat his then-opponent Rebecca Shiroff by only 10 votes in 2022.
Ryan said his efforts to spur economic development in the county, support county law enforcement, and his ability to work with a legislative body that is majority Republican will be key in enticing voters.
“I’ve always done my very best to work across the aisle and seek bipartisan collaboration,” he added. “When I get to Albany, I’ll continue to do that.”
New York State Senate District 48
Caleb Slater, originally from Yates County, beat Fanny Villareal in the Republican primary for New York State’s 48th Senate District.
Slater will face Sen. Rachel May, who is serving her third term in the state senate.
The 50th district includes the city of Syracuse, western and southern suburbs in Onondaga County and all of Cayuga County.
Slater won 53% of the votes in the election, according to the state board of elections’ unofficial results. He and Villareal, who has run the YWCA of Syracuse and Onondaga County since 2013, were in a near tie in Onondaga County. They were separated by just 49 votes. But Slater carried Cayuga County, winning 59% of votes in the county.
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