“Brandon Williams is a MAGA extremist and Donald Trump loyalist who has repeatedly proved that he’s wildly out-of-touch with this historically purple district. In Congress, Williams has voted to take away women’s reproductive rights, flip-flopped on job-creating legislation, and failed to make New York families safer. Families across New York’s 22nd Congressional District deserve better, and John Mannion’s deep local ties, strong base of support, and record of delivering for Central New York and Mohawk Valley families make us well-positioned to win back this critical seat in November,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.
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To: Interested Parties From: Ellie Dougherty, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 25, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Brandon Williams
New York’s 22nd Congressional District is one of the most flippable seats in the country, and Texas businessman-turned-vulnerable MAGA extremist Brandon Williams has repeatedly taken every chance possible to prove he’s too out-of-touch with Central New York and Mohawk Valley families to continue representing this swing seat.
After nearly two years with an “absent” Congressman, voters of this historically purple district have an opportunity to elect a leader who has a proven record of delivering results for Central New York and the Mohawk Valley – John Mannion.
For almost 30 years, John’s wife has been an Elementary Reading teacher while he worked as an AP Biology and Chemistry teacher at West Genesee and the Syracuse City School District – where he advocated for teachers and students as a teachers’ union president.
After nearly three decades as a public-school science teacher, John decided to run for State Senate to stand up for Central New York and Mohawk Valley families’ rights and opportunities, including working to secure more funding for schools. In the State Senate, John brought Democrats and Republicans together to deliver big results for families in his district, including helping to bring Micron to Clay to create tens of thousands of jobs, providing tax relief for hardworking families, creating the first new police department in New York in half a century, and passing laws to protect a woman’s right to choose.
Brandon Williams has a much less compelling story – one that clearly shows his lack of roots in the district and his inability to understand the needs of workers and families in Central New York and the Mohawk Valley.
Born and raised in Texas, Williams is a multimillionaire – who the former four term Republican representative in the area, John Katko, refused to endorse – and has completely embraced MAGA extremism at every turn in Congress. Despite representing a Biden-won district, Williams proudly abandoned the rule of law and endorsed convicted felon Donald Trump, and Trump quickly returned the favor by endorsing Williams.
Williams clearly has a pattern of proving just how out of touch he is with this district. The former Wall Street investment banker and Silicon Valley investor who boasts a net worth of up to $8.3 million said he was “not independently wealthy” and would continue taking pay during an impending MAGA-inflicted shutdown during his first year in Congress. He even went so far as to claim that furloughed government employees shouldn’t expect “a huge amount of sympathy.” Williams then flip-flopped hours after facing backlash.
Whether it’s flip-flopping on his support of the CHIPs and Science Act that’s bringing jobs to Syracuse, leading the charge on anti-choice legislation, playing politics with border security, or voting to defund law enforcement, Williams has strayed dangerously far to the right from the moderate centrists who have historically won New York’s 22nd Congressional District. The only campaign promise Williams has cared to keep is refusing to be bipartisan.
With John Mannion’s deep family ties to this district, strong local and national support, and incomparable understanding of what matters most to Central New York and Mohawk Valley families, it’s clear that Brandon Williams’ days in Congress are numbered.
A TEXAN AND “ABSENT” LEGISLATOR WHO CAVES TO MAGA EXTREMISM
As a Texan, Brandon Williams’ lackluster ties to Central New York and the Mohawk Valley have repeatedly proven that he not only doesn’t have a firm grasp on issues that matter most to his constituents – he also has a well-documented record of failing to deliver for his district and caving to MAGA extremism along the way. It’s no wonder his campaign is being fueled by Texas billionaires rather than New Yorkers.
Over the last year, local reporting has exposed Williams for “absent” representation and that he “has struggled to offer specifics about his priorities” when it comes to local issues. Ultimately, Williams has been unable to make any progress on key issues impacting New York’s 22nd Congressional District, including finding bipartisan solutions to secure the border, protecting reproductive freedom, and bringing back manufacturing jobs. In fact, Williams has been ranked as the most partisan Republican member in New York State, notably eclipsing even GOP Caucus Chair Elise Stefanik.
But the scandals don’t stop there. Despite representing a Biden-won district, Williams actively chose to cave to MAGA extremists by hiring former Trump staffers in senior roles “with little or no experience working in Congress.”
Families in New York’s 22nd Congressional District deserve better than a representative like Williams, who is failing to deliver for them and is grossly misaligned with their values. Central New York is John Mannion’s home, and he’ll always put the needs of his constituents first.
AN UNABASHED THREAT TO ABORTION RIGHTS
The moment he got to Washington, Brandon Williams led extreme efforts against a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health care decisions.
A quick look at his voting record confirms his fundamentalist MAGA crusade against reproductive freedom. Williams has voted for multiple anti-abortion bills to try to roll back reproductive freedom every chance he gets, including voting to pass anti-abortion legislation that would punish doctors who perform abortions,use federal funds to spread misinformation, and prevent vulnerable communities from seeking essential health care. Williams also chose to join the radical Republican Study Committee, which endorsed a nationwide abortion ban without any exceptions that would also prohibit IVF and forms of contraception.
Even more abhorrently, Williams co-sponsored H.R. 7 – a fervently anti-abortion bill that would rip private health insurance coverage away from women and overturn state law in New York guaranteeing access to reproductive health care in private health insurance plans. Williams not only led the charge on the bill, but refused to explain his cosponsorship of the bill, even after the New York Health Department warned it would affect millions of New Yorkers enrolled in programs like Medicaid and increase health care costs for at least another 130,000 New Yorkers.
John Mannion is a strong advocate for reproductive freedom and his time in the New York State Senate reflects that record. For John, this issue is personal – his mother was forced to carry a still-born baby to term before Roe v. Wade. While John will fight tooth and nail to protect abortion rights, Williams’ radical anti-choice extremism is a direct threat to Central New York and Mohawk Valley women.
THE ULTIMATE FLIP-FLOPPER AND GAME-PLAYER WITH JOBS, HEALTH, SAFETY
Brandon Williams has repeatedly dismissed bipartisanship and mocked common sense legislation that is creating good-paying jobs for families across New York’s 22nd Congressional District.
On the campaign trail in 2022, Williams branded the CHIPS and Science Act a “corporate welfare package.” But following the passage of this historic legislation, Micron announced it would invest up to $100 billion to build a computer chip factory in Clay, the largest single private investment in New York’s history that is creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in the district. Micron’s CEO said of the factory plans, “There is no doubt that without the CHIPS Act, we would not be here today.”
While Williams campaigned on public safety and securing the border in 2022, he’s done nothing to improve the safety of Central New York and Mohawk Valley families on either issue – per Trump’s orders.
Instead of working to find bipartisan solutions to address tough problems as the representative of a historically purple district, Williams has gone out of his way to vote in lockstep with his party to defund local and federal law enforcement in Congress. First, he voted for the ‘Default on America Act’ – a dangerous piece of legislation that would have cut up to $10 billion from federal law enforcement agencies and jeopardized nearly 30,000 law enforcement roles. Then, he voted for Republicans’ failed government funding bill, which would have cut a wide array of law enforcement programs by nearly 30%, including cutting thousands of federal law enforcement positions and hundreds of state and local public safety officers.
Last but not least, Williams’ Republican Study Committee released a radical budget that would defund the COPS program, which for decades has supported efforts to improve community policing, recruit and retain local police officers, fight the addiction crisis, and help prevent violence in schools. The program gave over $6.7 million in 2023 to communities in New York to hire more police officers.
Williams’ complete disregard for our brave men and women in law enforcement isn’t the only way he’s made Central New York and Mohawk Valley communities less safe – he also refuses to engage in bipartisan discussions to make meaningful progress on border security and immigration reform and instead chooses to use the issue to campaign on during an election year.
While Williams visited Eagle Pass, Texas, on taxpayers’ dime just days before an impending MAGA-inflicted government shutdown – when Congress had the best opportunity of passing bipartisan border legislation in over 30 years that was negotiated in the Senate, Williams rejected it after Trump urged House Republicans to kill the bill.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Rome Sentinel: Donald Trump endorses Brandon Williams for Congress [Rome Sentinel, 05/28/24]
The Citizen: Democrat accuses GOP Rep. Brandon Williams of violating House ethics rules [The Citizen, 05/24/24]
The Citizen: Rep. Brandon Williams gets low marks in bipartisan index [The Citizen, 05/16/24]
The Post-Standard: Rep. Brandon Williams is absent on Central NY issues while fighting ‘progressive fantasies’ [The Post-Standard, 03/04/24]
The Post-Standard: Rep. Brandon Williams flip flops within hours about taking pay during government shutdown [The Post-Standard, 09/29/23]
The Post-Standard: Rep. Brandon Williams moves toward far right with new staff rooted in Trump’s MAGA campaign [The Post-Standard, 09/25/23]
The Post-Standard: GOP candidate for Congress in Central NY called chip incentives ‘corporate welfare’ [The Post-Standard, 10/06/22]
The Post-Standard: John Mannion shares his mother’s story in campaign ad about abortion rights [The Post-Standard, 05/29/24]
The Citizen: National unions among labor groups endorsing John Mannion in Syracuse, Utica House race [The Citizen, 08/31/23]
PATH TO VICTORY
After 2024 redistricting in New York, New York’s 22nd Congressional District is one of the most flippable seats in the country. While this district has been historically purple, in the current formulation of the district both President Biden (55.8% of the major-party vote) and Secretary Clinton (53.0%) won the district with a majority of support, as did congressional Democrats in 2018 (51.8%). Cook Political Report rates this race “Lean Democrat” and Inside Elections rates it “Tilt Democratic.” National Journal also lists the race as Democrats’ top pick-up opportunity.
John Mannion’s deep ties to communities across Central New York and the Mohawk Valley, his strong relationships with organized labor, and his record of delivering real results for families in NY-22 will flip this swingy purple seat from red to blue. Meanwhile, MAGA extremist Brandon Williams has spent his freshman term pushing an anti-choice, anti-border security, and anti-law enforcement agenda, proving he’s out of step with this traditional swing district at every turn – and now is in serious trouble.
