Democrat John Mannion flips crucial Syracuse House seat

NEW YORK — Democrat John Mannion flipped a central New York House seat Tuesday, clinching a must-win district for his party to recapture control of the chamber.

A state senator who represents the Syracuse area, Mannion unseated Republican Rep. Brandon Williams, a freshman lawmaker who Democrats had pegged early in the election cycle as a vulnerable incumbent.

Mannion drew considerable support from labor organizations, including teachers unions. He will represent an area that has elected a Republican lawmaker to the House for the last decade.

Williams replaced moderate Republican Rep. John Katko in 2022 and, as a more conservative lawmaker, struggled to gain traction in the swing district. He is an enthusiastic supporter of former President Donald Trump and has been a staunch opponent of abortion.

Democrats gave Mannion a boost earlier this year when the district was redrawn to be slightly more favorable to their party’s nominee.

And Williams’ case didn’t get much help in the race’s final days when House Speaker Mike Johnson said House Republicans would be supportive of repealing the CHIPS and Science Act. Johnson later said he misheard the question. The spending package, meant to spur high-tech development and jobs, has been a linchpin for Micron Technology to build a factory in the district.

Mannion’s success came after his own fumbles. Former staffers anonymously accused him of presiding over a toxic office culture, claims the publicly avuncular legislator denied.

Mannion, an Albany lawmaker first elected in 2020, also had to overcome Republican efforts to link him to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who remains deeply unpopular statewide in New York.

Williams’ campaign released a TV ad featuring John Walsh of “America’s Most Wanted” fame blasting his Democratic rival over public safety — an issue that has resonated for Republican campaigns. The ad yoked Mannion to Hochul, and by extension Democratic Albany.

But Mannion sidestepped the associations with Hochul by focusing on his legislative record in the state Senate and hammering Williams over abortion and IVF access.

He has not been supportive of left-leaning criminal justice measures in Albany and has voted against bills that would limit solitary confinement in state prisons.

Both candidates were supportive of the CHIPS and Science Act, making Johnson’s botched comments over appealing the measure last week all the more damaging to the Republican’s slim chances.

Micron plans to build four computer chip manufacturing facilities in the Syracuse area — a project that was spurred by the federal package and the Hochul administration.

The construction will include $6.1 billion in federal spending and $5.5 billion of incentives from New York state. Officials have been optimistic the spending will be a jobs boon to a region that has been stuck in the economic doldrums for more than a generation.

Mannion touted his support for a state-level provision meant to encourage Micron’s construction of the facilities.

A Williams’ victory was not expected by either party, and privately New York Republicans had all but written off their chances of holding the seat.