Francis Conole’s campaign; Brandon Williams’ campaign; Insider
Democrat Francis Conole is running against Republican Brandon Williams in New York’s 22nd Congressional District.
The 22nd District is based in Syracuse.
The old 22nd District represented by GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney was eliminated after redistricting.
Democrat Francis Conole faces off against Republican Brandon Williams in New York’s 22nd Congressional District in a race to succeed outgoing Republican Rep. John Katko, who represented much of the area in the district prior to redistricting. Conole first ran for the seat in 2020, but was unsuccessful.
New York’s 22nd Congressional District candidates
Conole is an Iraq War veteran and commander in the Navy Reserve. Prior to running for Congress, he served at the Pentagon as a policy advisor to Defense Secretaries Ash Carter and Jim Mattis.
Conole emerged victorious in the 2022 Democratic primary for the 22nd District, narrowly defeating second-place finisher Sarah Klee Hood by less than 1,000 votes.
Williams, Conole’s challenger, is a Navy veteran and the founder of a software company. Williams handily defeated his GOP primary opponent, former prosecutor Steven Wells, bringing in 58% of the vote.
Voting history for New York’s 22nd Congressional District
New York’s 22nd Congressional District covers large rural swaths of Central New York and includes the city of Syracuse.
President Joe Biden had a 9 percentage point margin of victory over former President Donald Trump under the district’s previous boundaries in 2020 before it was eliminated under the new congressional map drawn up by state Democrats in redistricting following the 2020 Census. The new 22nd District is now a Democratic-leaning swing district.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Conole has raised $2.6 million, spent $2.1 million, and has $526,520 on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, Williams, has raised $742,921, spent $506,630, and has $236,291 cash on hand, as of October 19.
As of early November, super PACs, natinal party committees, and other non-candidate groups have combined to spend nearly $13 million to advocate for or against candidates in the race, including during the primaries.
What experts say
The race between Conole and Williams is rated as a “toss-up” by Inside Elections, a “toss-up” by The Cook Political Report, and “leans Republican” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.