Dana Balter took the Democratic party nomination on Tuesday night against Juanita Perez Williams in the race for New York state’s 24th Congressional district.

Now it’s a race between Balter and two-time incumbent Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) as they both vie for the district which includes Syracuse.

Balter’s watch party, at Bowl Mor Lanes, a bowling alley in East Syracuse, drew about 50 people, according to Syracuse.com. Perez Williams held a watch party in downtown Syracuse with about 60 supporters at the PressRoom Pub, Syracuse.com reported.

Balter took an early lead when ballots began being reported, and maintained the lead as results rolled in. At about 10 p.m., an hour after polls closed, she tweeted, “Folks, Dana is your nominee. She’ll be speaking at about 10:15.”

Folks, Dana is your nominee. She’ll be speaking at about 10:15.#FlipNY24

— Dana Balter (@dana_balter) June 27, 2018

Perez Williams lost by more than 5,600 votes after more than 22,000 voters in the Syracuse area went to the polls. In 2016, only 9 percent of eligible Democratic voters turned out for the primary. More than 15.5 percent of eligible Democrats cast ballots in the 2018 primary.

Only registered Democrats are eligible to vote in New York state Democratic primary elections. There are about 143,000 actively enrolled Democrats in the district, according to Syracuse.com.

Balter and Perez Williams shared common ground on many major issues: They both supported legalizing recreational marijuana, creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, repealing the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and raising the minimum wage. Early this month, a Spectrum News/Siena College poll reported Perez Williams, a United States Navy veteran, leading the Democratic primary by 13 points.

Perez Williams, a former mayoral candidate, joined the race in early April, while Balter had announced her candidacy in September 2017. Perez Williams had volunteered on Balter’s congressional campaign, as Balter had volunteered on Perez Williams’s Syracuse mayoral campaign in 2017. She lost the race for mayor to independent Ben Walsh in November 2017.

Juanita Perez Williams, a U.S. Navy veteran, entered the race in April.
Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Many local politicians, including Joe Driscoll, Syracuse’s 5th District common councilor, supported Balter during her campaign. Balter also had endorsements from the Democratic committees of all four counties in the 24th Congressional District. The district includes Cayuga, Onondaga and Wayne counties, and parts of Oswego County.

Balter raised about three times more money than the Perez Williams campaign, though Perez Williams enjoyed support from liberal outside spending groups such as VoteVets.org, a hybrid PAC/super PAC dedicated to electing veterans, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Party’s main committee for electing Democrats to the House of Representatives. Balter raised about $302,000, while Perez Williams brought in about $106,000

Both Balter and Perez Williams expressed disapproval towards the Republican incumbent. He is unpopular among local activist groups for voting in favor of the Republican tax overhaul.

New York state’s 24th Congressional District has flipped between a Democratic and Republican representative since 2007.

As of 2017, Katko was the seventh most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives, according to the Lugar Center.

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Published on June 26, 2018 at 10:46 pm

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert