N.Y. Rep.-Elect Brandon Williams Puts GOP on Verge of Majority (Newsmax)
By John Gizzi Monday, 14 November 2022 11:30 PM EST Current | Bio | Archive
The news Monday evening that Brandon Williams, a Republican who had the additional ballot line of the New York Conservative Party, was triumphant in the Syracuse-based 22nd District brought Republicans to just one seat shy of magic 218 they need for a majority in the House.
Observers on both sides agree with 15 House races left to be decided, it is now almost a foregone conclusion Republicans will have the majority for which they worked so hard in 2022.
With vote-counting almost finalized, software company owner and retired U.S. Naval officer Williams won by a margin of 50.75% to 49.25% for Democrat and fellow Navy veteran Francis Conole.
With Democrats in Albany wielding the redistricting knife, the 22nd had been made into a more Democrat district and one President Biden carried by 9 percentage points in 2020. In addition, Williams was considered to the right of retiring Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., a moderate who was one of the 10 House Republicans to vote for Donald Trump's impeachment in 2021.
Pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-Trump, Williams nonetheless managed to overcome the better-funded Conole (who spent $2.6 million to Williams' roughly $750,000) by about 4,000 votes.
"Brandon Williams will make an outstanding member of Congress," Conservative Party State Chairman Gerard Kassar told Newsmax on Tuesday. "I am ecstatic that he won and pleased that the almost 19,000 votes he received on the Conservative Party line provided him with his margin of victory."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.