The candidates for the hotly contested 22nd Congressional District race in central New York used part of their latest debate Tuesday to clear the air about attack ads.
During the debate, hosted by WSYR-TV, Republican incumbent Rep. Brandon Williams and Democratic challenger State Sen. John Mannion accused each other of allowing falsehoods in a series of ads on several issues.
For Mannion, the most egregious were those calling him the “Albany abuser,” stemming from an unfounded claim by former workers of a toxic workplace in his State Senate office.
"My opponent and his friends’ actions are disgusting,” Mannion said. “They're untruthful. They should be rejected and what we've seen is the infiltration of nasty politics representative of places like Texas that should be rejected. It's a cowardly act and should have stopped a long time ago.”
An independent investigation cleared Mannion of any wrongdoing, but Williams defended the allegations.
“The ethics charges against my opponent are absolutely true and they’re absolutely serious, and those women deserve to be heard,” he said.
Williams, meanwhile, said commercials claiming he supports a total ban on abortion have distorted his stance on that issue.
“I will not support a national ban on abortion and I've said that clearly,” Williams said. “I won't vote for a national ban. I support exceptions for abortion, for life of the mother, rape and incest, and I still am pro-life by my faith. And so to spend four million dollars saying things that I never said is just fear-mongering.”
Williams is hoping to win a second term in a newly drawn district that spans all of Onondaga and Madison counties, and portions of Cayuga, Cortland and Oneida counties.
Mannion, a former teacher and two-term Democrat in the State Senate is challenging Williams in a district that has a slight edge in the number of Democrats over Republicans.
The deadline to register to vote is October 26, the same day early voting begins in New York state.
