House candidates Francis Conole, Brandon Williams clash in fiery syracuse.com debate

Syracuse, NY. – Congressional candidates Francis Conole and Brandon Williams accused each other today of distorting their records and misleading voters in a fiery opening debate sponsored by syracuse.com.

The two candidates interrupted each other and traded accusations throughout the hourlong debate held at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. At one point Williams called Conole “incredibly rude.”

Conole, a Democrat, and Williams, a Republican, clashed on the issues of abortion, inflation and the economy, the influence of outside money in politics, criminal justice reform, the future of Social Security, and whether bipartisanship is a good thing.

Conole, 44, of Syracuse, set the tone from the start, going on the attack against Williams, 55, who lives just outside of the new 22nd Congressional District in the town of Sennett in Cayuga County.

“My opponent just arrived in Central New York not too long ago,” Conole said in his opening statement. “He doesn’t live in the district and doesn’t know Central New York. He supports extreme views like allowing politicians to ban abortion without exception.”

Williams fought back throughout the debate, accusing Conole of “deliberately misrepresenting” his positions.

“Right out of the gate, my opponent is repeating a bunch of lies that you’ve been fed with millions and millions of dollars of dark money over the last few months,” Williams said.

He said his position has been misrepresented in ads supporting Conole. He is against abortion rights but supports exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother’s life.

Conole suggested that Williams wasn’t being honest with voters when he told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he won’t vote for a national abortion ban.

Williams has said he opposes abortion rights but believes the issue should be decided by the states, not the federal government.

Watch candidates debate abortion rights

Conole said Williams filled out a questionnaire by Syracuse Right to Life that supports the groups call for national abortion restrictions to be passed into law by Congress.

Williams said the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade law for abortion rights is not as important to Central New York voters as crime, inflation and the economy.

“The only reason we’re talking about abortion as the leadoff question is because they don’t want to talk about these other critical issues,” Williams said.

Conole countered that Williams was trying to hide his true position about an abortion ban.

“I’d like to know how Brandon Williams responded to that questionnaire from Syracuse Right to Life,” Conole said. “It’s a simple question. You changed your website, so you haven’t been consistent. There’s been some whitewashing going on.”

Williams said the issue of inflation and the economy is more important. He criticized Conole for supporting middle-class tax cuts to help families deal with inflation. Williams said tax cuts would only make inflation worse.

Williams suggested Conole was ill-equipped after a lifelong career in the U.S. Navy and intelligence community to deal with economic issues.

“You can’t have somebody who’s never held a job in the private economy in charge of making these decisions for the rest of us,” said Williams, who served six years in the Navy before launching a business career.

Conole and Williams both said they wouldn’t support additional stimulus spending or Covid relief payments.

But Conole suggested Williams was a hypocrite because a Silicon Valley software firm he co-founded accepted a forgivable loan of $10,417 under the federal Paycheck Protection Program in March 2021.

The candidates had another intense exchange when asked about the influence of millions of dollars of ads from outside political groups airing in Central New York on behalf of both candidates.

Williams said the only reason that Conole is the Democratic nominee is because a cryptocurrency billionaire launched an independent ad campaign through a political action committee to support him over three Democratic opponents.

“If there is a poster child for dark money, it is standing right next to me right now,” Williams said. He added, “My opponent is a product of dark money and the political machine. We need a fresh perspective, and frankly we need political outsiders to turn the ship around.”

Conole noted the irony that Williams spent the morning at a Central New York fundraiser with Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the House minority whip and second-ranking House Republican.

“You talk about yourself as an outsider,” Conole said. “It doesn’t sound like that.”

Williams inaccurately said the PAC spent $500 million to support Conole. The actual amount was $510,000, according to reports the PAC filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Watch the full syracuse.com debate

Later, the two candidates had differing views about the job done by Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, during his eight years representing Central New York in Congress.

Katko has stayed neutral in the campaign, declining to endorse Williams as the Republican and Conservative Party nominee.

When asked, Williams couldn’t name a single vote of Katko’s where he would have voted the same or differently than the congressman.

Conole said he liked Katko’s votes for an infrastructure bill, to protect the Affordable Care Act, pass incentives for companies to build computer chip plants in the United States, and to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“I think Congressman Katko led in a bipartisan manner and truly represented Central New York,” Conole said. “I would say he made those votes with his virtue and his character, and because he knew Central New York.”

Later, the candidates returned to the issue of bipartisanship in their closing remarks, sharply disagreeing over its importance.

“We’ve had congressional leadership that has represented us in a real bipartisan way,” Conole said. “It is that kind of bipartisan approach that has brought Micron here and will be necessary to lead our community and our nation forward.”

Williams replied, “I want to translate bipartisan, which really means politics as usual. I’m an outsider and will bring a fresh perspective. We need people who know how jobs are created in a real economy.”

The candidates have agreed to participate in two more public debates before Election Day. Those debates will be sponsored by WSYR-TV (Channel 9) and WSTM-TV (Channel 3) in Syracuse.

The 22nd District election has been ranked by political analysts as one of the most competitive House races in the nation this year.

Conole, a commander in the Navy Reserves, is making his second bid to represent Central New York in Congress. He lost a Democratic primary election in 2020 to Dana Balter. He came back to win this year’s primary election over three other Democrats.

Williams is a tech executive and Navy veteran who served on a nuclear-powered submarine. He now operates a farm in Cayuga County that grows truffles and sells honey and other products. He is a political newcomer who defeated party favorite Steve Wells, of Cazenovia, in the Republican primary election on Aug. 23.

Early voting in the new 22nd Congressional District begins Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 8.

The district spans all of Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties, and the southeastern tip of Oswego County. Williams, of Cayuga County, has promised to move into the new district if elected in November.

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