A day after a blue wave crashed across the country, central New York Rep. John Mannion (D-Geddes) said this year's election is the beginning of the end of the Trump era. Mannion won a second term Tuesday, defeating Republican Kailee Buller by more than 45,000 votes. Nationwide, Democrats are expected to gain more than 30 seats in the House and seven in the Senate, in a vote that reflected the deep unpopularity of the president.
Speaking Wednesday, Mannion said he was glad to hear President Trump say that he would accept the results of the election.
"That was a moment that we needed, right? And I'm glad that it happened," Mannion said. "That gives me more hope than I had before that we can actually come together and get things done."
This year's Democratic wave will have one palpable impact on the region, because Mannion will start his second term as a more powerful member of Congress than he was during his freshman term.
It’s a matter of math. The number on the back of every House member’s lapel pin is their seniority number. Mannion's current number is 409, as a minority freshman in the House. But Tuesday's election results will not only put him in the majority, but allow him to skip the 300’s into the 200’s seniority wise. That will essentially put him in the top half of seniority in the House.
"I am going to be able to, in a very unique way because of so much turnover, have more power in committee, have a better chance at being a chair of a subcommittee, and already establishing relationships on both sides of the aisle over the course of these first two years, to be able to get some of my priority bills moving more quickly," he said.
Mannion said once Democrats assume the majority in the House and Senate in January, quick action should be the order of business, with plans already in place for the first 100 days.
"What I do believe that the Democratic Party, its members in the House and the Senate, must do is deliver for the people," he said. "They need to see that we are a party of ideas and a party of action."
Mannion expects the first order of business for the new-look Congress will be dealing with health care costs, by reversing some cuts make by the Trump administration.
