Mannion takes oath of office for second term

After one of the closest state senate elections in history, Democrat John Mannion heads back to Albany this week to join state lawmakers as they kick off the 2023 legislative session. 

Mannion won reelection to his newly drawn seat by just 10 votes, but he said he doesn’t dwell on that.

"I just let the process play out and fortunately we ended up on the right side of it in the closest ever election in the history of the New York State Senate," Mannion said.

Going forward there are a myriad of issues facing senators; one of the most contentious, a vote to approve Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to be New York’s next Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. 

The nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle, who is a centrist, has at least 12 progressive senators on record of opposing him. That includes Syracuse area Senator Rachel May, who says LaSelle would be regressive on “issues impacting women’s rights, labor issues and climate change.” Mannion said he isn’t ready to make a decision on the nomination.

"I do think, although there is a time and a place to come out publicly and oppose, there is a process and I respect that process," Mannion said. "I’m going to have an open mind about all of it"

Mannion said he expects to speak to LaSalle before making up his mind. Other issues he expects to come across his desk relate to Micron’s plans to spend $100 billion over 20 years to build massive chips plants in Clay.

"There could be some local bills that need to be passed at the Albany level," Mannion said. "Maybe land transfer, some things related to wetlands, certainly advocating for infrastructure projects that could end up in the governor’s budget or our one-house budget. So, it’s things like that that have to happen."

Mannion’s new district represents the northern suburbs of Onondaga county as well as parts of Oswego County.