Why would you elect John Mannion to Congress when you wouldn’t re-elect him to the state Senate?
That’s the question Central New York faces as it goes to the polls and decides whether Syracuse and Utica should be served in the House of Representatives by Democrat challenger John Mannion or Republican incumbent Brandon Williams.
Why give a new job to a guy who failed you in his old job?
And John Mannion absolutely failed Central New York in the state Senate. While running as an aw-shucks centrist back home, he was a rubber-stamp progressive in Albany. When it was time to choose between the needs of his district and the priorities of his party, he was a steady vote for the most woke instincts of the Democrat fringe.
That’s why his margin of victory in his last election was 10 votes.
That’s why he and everyone else knew he couldn’t be re-elected to the state Senate in this election.
It’s not that he disdains Republicans – which he does – it’s that he alienates many of the union families that are his own Democrat core. There is a large swathe of the Democratic Party that looks at the New York City agenda John Mannion supported in Albany and wonders what the hell he’s thinking.
Between active advocacy for the woke agenda and silent assent to its ascendency, he has been a sponsor and facilitator of dangerous policies hostile to the interests of Central New York, its people and their prosperity.
Like economic development.
When bi-partisan Ryan McMahon, the man who worked with Democrats and Republicans to bring Micron to Clay, comes out hard for Brandon Williams, you know he’s worried about the anti-business agenda John Mannion has supported in Albany.
Ryan McMahon has worked with John Mannion, and he doesn’t want to work with him anymore. He doesn’t want to empower an agenda further to the left than most Central New Yorkers want to go.
Like criminal justice reform.
While ridiculous, pro-criminal policies have rolled out of Albany, creating danger on the streets of the entire state, John Mannion has been an apologist for them, rebuffing the fears of his constituents and the concerns of law enforcement and prosecution officials.
That’s why the Syracuse police union opposes him.
That’s why the local law enforcement community, which has buried two of its own this year, stands in shoulder-to-shoulder opposition to the elevation of John Mannion from the state Senate to the federal Congress. He did them wrong in Albany, and there’s no way they want him to do them wrong in Washington.
Because by doing them wrong, by stripping cops and prosecutors of the ability to hold criminals accountable, John Mannion has endangered every family in this state, and that poison cannot be spread nationwide.
Neither should the high-taxing, economy-destroying, big-government schemes of Albany Democrats – which have made New York one of the least desirables states to live or do business in – be imposed on the country by the likes of John Mannion.
He showed us who he is, he showed us who he stands with, he showed us how little he thinks of us.
Literally.
On a conference call, staring into his camera, talking to his Democrat bosses, he mockingly described his constituents, the kindly collection of largely centrist New Yorkers who graced him with their votes and trust. Instead of explaining and defending his own people, he threw them under the bus, seeking to ingratiate himself with elites far away.
Which is a piss poor way to represent people.
Which is why he wasn’t going to win re-election to the state Senate.
Which is why he’s on the ballot for Congress.
Which is why the people of Syracuse and Utica should vote against him.
Because he has shown himself an unworthy representative. When a doctor botches your wart removal, you don’t hire him for your heart transplant. And when a guy won’t stand up for your interests in Albany, there’s no way in hell he’s going to do so in Washington.
If Ryan McMahon and the police don’t trust John Mannion, neither should you.
If you wouldn’t re-elect him to the state Senate, why would you elect him to Congress?