NEW YORK — Democrat John Mannion flipped a pivotal seat in the New York House of Representatives on Tuesday, capturing a district his party must win to regain control of the chamber.
Mannion, a state senator who represents the Syracuse area, unseated Republican Rep. Brandon Williams, a freshman lawmaker who Democrats identified as a vulnerable incumbent early in the election cycle.
Mannion received significant support from unions, including teachers unions. He will represent an area that has elected a Republican lawmaker to the House of Representatives for the past 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 a staunch opponent of abortion.
Democrats gave Mannion a boost earlier this year when the district was redrawn to make it slightly more favorable to their party’s candidate.
And Williams’ case didn’t get much help in the final days of the race, when House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans in the House of Representatives would support repeal of the CHIPS and Science Act. Johnson later said he had misunderstood the question. The spending package, aimed at boosting 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, which the publicly avuncular lawmaker 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 in which John Walsh, of “America’s Most Wanted” fame, criticized his Democratic rival on public safety — an issue that has resonated in Republican campaigns. The ad linked Mannion to Hochul, and by extension to Democratic Albany.
But Mannion sidestepped the associations with Hochul by focusing on his legislative record in the Senate and hammering Williams on abortion and IVF access.
He has not supported left-wing criminal justice measures in Albany and has voted against bills that would limit solitary confinement in state prisons.
Both candidates supported the CHIPS and Science Act, making Johnson’s failed comments when he appealed 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 spurred by the federal package and the Hochul administration.
The construction includes $6.1 billion in federal spending and $5.5 billion in New York State incentives. Officials are optimistic the spending will be a job boost for a region that has been in the economic doldrums for more than a generation.
Mannion touted his support for a state-level provision intended 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 retaining the seat.
