Representative John Mannion has won re-election in New York’s 22nd Congressional District Tuesday night despite President Donald Trump endorsing his Republican opponent.

A Democrat from Geddes, Mannion fended off a challenge from Republican Kailee Buller to earn a second term representing NY-22 residents, becoming the first incumbent to win re-election in the district since 2014.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:55 p.m.

Mannion earned 57.5% of the vote with 88% of the vote reported, according to the New York State Board of Elections unofficial results. Buller had 41.6% of the vote.

Buller is an Auburn resident who previously worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture under  Trump. The president for Buller, gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and NY-21 Republican candidate Anthony Constantino at an October rally in Syracuse. Blakeman and Buller lost, and no winner had been declared in the race between Constantino and Democratic opponent Blake Gendebien, who are vying to fill outgoing Republican incumbent Elise Stefanik.

Mannion’s decisive win matched a strong showing from fellow Democrats around the nation, who appear poised to flip control of the House of Representatives.

“We’re seeing good results around the country. I’ve represented this whole region for two years and part of it for longer. And you know, my team does a great job. I think people see us as delivering for them,” Mannion said in an interview with Central Current shortly before declaring victory.

Buller said in a concession speech that the Republican Party is entering a “rebuilding year,” and that she planned to “be part of that solution.”

“We gave a voice to the people who felt forgotten, people who work hard and watch their bills climb fast. People like my family,” Buller said. “Those problems didn’t go away tonight. They’re still raising our taxes, and they’re still raising the utility bills. And someone has to keep fighting.”

Past battleground may become a blue bunker

NY-22 has been a national battleground for over a decade, with multiple recent contests ending in tight margins of victory. Mannion’s decisive win on Tuesday evening bucked that trend.

Recent redistricting efforts have changed the shape and composition of the district; NY-22 now spans much of Central New York, encompassing the cities of Auburn, Syracuse, and Utica. The district has 526,604 registered voters, according to a November tally from the New York State Board of Elections. The Democratic Party has a slight advantage with 184,978 registered voters within the district, compared to the Republican Party’s 154,374 registered voters. More than 155,000 registered voters in NY-22 are not affiliated with either party.

In the 2024 general election, Mannion defeated then-incumbent Republican Brandon Williams with 194,450 votes, or 54.5% of 356,792 total votes cast. Mannion’s margin of victory against Buller was wider Tuesday evening.

With his victory, Mannion became the first Democrat since 1978 to win a midterm election in the congressional district representing the city of Syracuse, which has shifted between multiple districts. NY-22 has flipped party control three times since 2016. Mannion’s re-election marks the first time in over a decade that NY-22’s residents will be represented by the same person for longer than two years.

That stability in representation can benefit the district, Mannion said, especially if his party is able to flip control of one or both chambers of Congress.

Democratic Majority would advance ‘accountability and reform,’ Mannion says

Mannion said the president has taken actions “well beyond the bounds of the law,” and said that a potential Democratic majority in Congress needs to “rein that in” while delivering solutions to an affordability crisis impacting Americans around the country.

Both Mannion and Buller ran on platforms promising to ease costs of living for voters, which have continued to increase under Trump despite his campaign pledges. The president in recent weeks has also cast aspersions on Americans’ affordability woes, and suggested that the affordability crisis was a hoax.

“The biggest thing I think is that as a Democratic majority in hopefully the House and the Senate, we can bring to people what they’re demanding, which is some things that make life more affordable, but also accountability and reform,” Mannion said.

A Democratic majority will look to advance oversight on the Trump administration, Mannion said, which the representative argued has largely been missing for the past two years under a Republican-led Congress.

“The powers of war, the powers of trade need to come back to Congress. We’ve lost those, and the Republican majority has allowed the president to run rampant over it,” Mannion said.

Mannion said he expects legislative wins to come easier with a Democratic majority, but acknowledged he and his fellow Democrats will still have to work with Trump in order to enact some of their policy priorities.

Mannion did not rule out support for potential articles of impeachment against the president for his war in Iran and other actions throughout the first two years of Trump’s second term, but said he would rather begin with hearings and depositions of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other Trump cabinet members.

Mannion sees potential for bipartisan support around legislative efforts to lower utility costs, preserving Social Security, and advancing guardrails around artificial intelligence. 

Some of those goals may require buy-in from the president, Mannion said, but added he would work with Trump and Republicans if it means lowering costs for Americans.

“If we can pass something and convince the president that it’s a part of his legacy, that’s going to be good for the American people, and ultimately, that’s really all that matters,” Mannion said.

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Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...