Mannion wins Democratic primary in upstate New York House seat

ALBANY, New York – The Associated Press declared John Mannion the winner in the Democratic primary for a Syracuse-area congressional seat, setting him up for a November challenge against one of the country’s most vulnerable House Republicans.

With the majority of votes counted, Mannion had 62 percent in his race against DeWitt City Councilwoman Sarah Klee Hood.

He will face the Republican congressman. Brandon Williams in November.

The race is ready to be one of the most competitive in the country. Williams won his first term in 2022 with 50.5% of the vote. The district has since been redrawn to become slightly more Democratic-friendly.

Mannion spent most of his career as an AP biology teacher in the suburb of Syracuse. He unseated a longtime Republican stronghold in the state Senate in 2020 before being reelected by 10 votes two years later.

He says experience in close races — this is the first of his four appearances in which a winner was declared on election night — will help as he fights in a national battleground.

“I am battle tested. I won difficult elections,” he said in an interview.

In the general election, Mannion will cite his experience in Albany and in schools as proof that he can accomplish more than Williams.

“Last year, in the House of Representatives, 22 pieces of legislation were approved and sanctioned,” he said. “In 2023, I had 27 bills that passed both houses of the state Legislature and were signed by the governor.”

People want “logic, they want results,” he said. “And I believe the last four years I’ve done that, and I certainly feel like the last 25 years in the classroom I’ve done that as well.”

Mannion has long been a favored candidate for the thriving teachers union, of which he was once local president. He is popular among other New York labor groups, which are expected to make big investments in his candidacy. And House Majority PAC, a top Democratic super PAC, has already booked airtime for advertising in the Syracuse market this fall.