A central New York state Senate race could change the political dynamics in Albany. The 50th state Senate seat is considered the GOP’s best shot at flipping a Democratic seat to their side. If that happens, it would eat into the Democratic super-majority in the Senate, which allows the Senate to override any vetoes from the governor.
Republicans hope Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro can win the seat left open by Democratic state Sen. John Mannion, who’s running for New York's 22nd Congressional District.
The statewide party first got wind of Paro during a very public fight in 2023 to prevent migrants from being allowed to move into a Salina hotel. And while noting immigration reform is the federal government’s problem to solve, he eyes action on the state level.
"We need to repeal the status of a sanctuary state," Paro said. "I also think that we need to make it mandatory that local governments, local government officials and law enforcement officers have to cooperate with federal authorities and ICE when they're dealing with illegal migrants. They shouldn't be protected by our local laws. They should immediately be handed over to the federal government. I also do think that there should be strict penalties for an illegal migrant who commits a crime."
Onondaga County Legislator Chris Ryan is hoping to keep the seat in Democratic hands. He agrees the federal government needs to take the lead on immigration issues, and criticizes Paro’s take on it.
"All my opponent seems to want to do is fan the flames of hate when it comes to immigration and that's not what we need to do," Ryan said. "Central New York is better than that."
Public safety is another issue that separates the candidates. Paro says bail reform, raise the age, and the HALT Act have all contributed to crime in his town. He’d like to roll back these initiatives, meant to reduce unnecessary jail time for those who can’t afford bail, and keep 16- and 17-year-olds out of the criminal justice system.
"That is a policy that had good intentions behind it, with negative consequences," Paro said. "It obviously hurts our community, but it also hurts the young folks that they were particularly trying to protect. It allows them to be more vulnerable to adult criminals that are using them for their own means. I think that we need to have a group of people, former judges, district attorneys, sheriffs across state, as well as advocates for folks that are coming from a less advantaged neighborhood, have them in a room, come up with a policy that's more representative of what we would like to see."
Ryan agrees there should be some changes to bail reform, but questions whether it’s an issue on the minds of voters. Instead he points to issues like the lack of health care for central New Yorkers that need the state’s attention, in particular Medicaid reimbursement.
"Now I understand, I am very, very, very, very aware that that's a really, really big, big issue," Ryan said. "So it's a lot of spending, it's a lot of money. But we have to at least talk about the problem. We actually have to at least start the conversation. I don't want to just start the conversation. I want to be impactful and I want to try to find a solution.”
Things the two agree on: both describe themselves as pragmatic moderates, willing to work across the aisle; as well as the importance of the I-81 and Micron projects, putting a spotlight on jobs, infrastructure and economic development. Ryan said his experience as a union leader will help.
"You know, 20, 27, almost 28 years in labor, good supportive labor and understand that those people that put people to work and people that employ Central New Yorkers, that's how Central New York works," Ryan said. "So I think that that would be hopefully my identity, workforce, economic development."
Paro wants to focus on economic and transportation discussions.
"I think those are the two biggest issues as well that's going to face this district over the next decade," Paro said. "So if I had the opportunity to be involved in either of those two committees, I'm going to take advantage of it. I'm going to make sure that I'm a loud, strong voice for Central New York, making sure funding and making sure resources are coming back to this area to help with those efforts."
The 50th Senate District includes parts of Onondaga and Oswego counties.
