Central New York Rep. John Mannion (D-Geddes) addressed several constituent topics during a telephone town hall held Thursday evening.
Mannion took questions from nine people during the hour-long question-and-answer session. Those interested could also listen to the town hall on their phones.
On the call, Mannion addressed a question on ensuring that the nation's elections are free and fair.
"As we've had multiple elections over the course of this year -- primary elections, special elections, congressional special elections -- what has happened in those elections?," Mannion said. "They have been ... they have been called, then they've been certified, and then people have been sworn into office. The exact same thing should happen on November 3."
Another caller asked how the average American can help protect democracy, and Mannion replied, "So number one, people should go out and vote. Number two, they can volunteer their time or volunteer some of their resources to help these organizations get the news out and protect our elections."
The Democrat also encourages people to support local journalism for news coverage of area happenings.
A caller from Utica asked about Democratic priorities moving forward should the party regain control of either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. He told the caller that Democrats are working on a plan and focusing on matters that they can achieve.
"We do need healthcare reform," he said. "We've got to make sure that people can afford their coverage or we have a plan they can access because of their income. Medicare is a very popular program that is working. We need to make sure that we're not cutting it but we're enhancing it."
In his response to that same question, he went on to add, "We've got to end the war, end the tariffs. We need sound trade policy to support our farmers and open up markets, not close markets because of the president's retaliatory actions that are hurting our farmers and driving up costs for everybody."
Besides those topics, Mannion also addressed questions on the immigration, health care, the war with Iran, and the Epstein files.
Mannion is facing a Republican challenge from Auburn native Kailee Buller.
