Josh Riley will face incumbent Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) in a heated rematch for New York’s 19th Congressional District, which stretches from Tompkins County in the west to Rensselaer in the east. In 2022, Riley narrowly lost to Molinaro by just 1.5 points in a contested race.
In an interview with The Sun, Riley predicted stronger chances at being elected this year, citing Molinaro's conduct in the U.S. House of Representatives as a key leverage in his campaign.
“The biggest difference from the last campaign to this one is that my opponent now has a voting record in Congress, [which] is really great for the corporate [political action committees] that are paying him, [but] really terrible for Upstate New Yorkers,” Riley said.
Molinaro received $1,259,303 from PACs during the 2024 election cycle thus far with the most contributions coming from the agribusiness sector, which includes industries such as crop production and agricultural services. Molinaro notably accepted thousands in campaign contributions from Avingrid PAC, which owns New York State Electric and Gas which successfully pushed to raise electricity rates for consumers by 62 percent.
Riley received $242,500 from PACS so far with $200,000 coming from ideological interests, which typically focus on specific issues and values.
Amid many issues, Riley stressed the importance of codifying abortion rights, labeling the overturning of Roe v. Wade as “one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court has ever made.”
“Congress should undo that damage by passing the Women's Health Protection Act, which is a federal law that would put Roe v. Wade's protections back into place,” Riley said.
The act, if implemented, would establish the legal right to abortion in all 50 states and “protect health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services.” The bill passed the House in 2022 but did not pass in the Senate after failing to get the necessary 60 votes.
Riley pointed out that Molinaro voted against the consideration of the bill.
“My opponent opposes that bill. He blocked Congress from even taking it up,” Riley said. “So I'm the pro-choice candidate in this race. He's the anti-choice candidate in this race. And our records and positions on this couldn't be more clear.”
In recent months, Molinaro appears to have changed his stance on abortion, stating in an ad that he believes “health decisions should be between a woman and her doctor, not Washington.” Riley characterized this change in Molinaro’s stance as “what a 30-year career politician [does]” who is running based on “political expediency” rather than a substantive shift in his beliefs.
“[Molinaro] ran around and told everybody that he would support a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. And then he got into Congress and voted not once, not twice, not three times, but 13 times, to restrict access to abortion services,” Riley said.
Riley also highlighted the economic hardships affecting upstate New York, attributing the soaring cost of living and growing house affordability crisis to political corruption.
“A lot of the challenges we are seeing across Upstate New York with respect to affordability … [is] a result of these big, powerful special interests using boatloads of corporate PAC money to buy influence with politicians.”
Riley critiqued Molinaro’s acceptance of such donations and stated that the campaign financing system needs to be fixed.
“We should be cracking down on the price gouging that we're seeing, [but] instead you have people like my opponent cashing corporate PAC checks and then voting to cut the law enforcement that's supposed to crack down on it,” Riley said. “So we have to fix our broken campaign finance system so that our political system and our economic system works for everyday people and not just these big special interests.”
As an Endicott, New York native, Riley connected his experience of growing up in a blue-collar community to his political goal of uplifting the working and middle class.
“[When] I was growing up, I saw us lose [blue collar] jobs when the plants closed down,” Riley said. “In our economy and in our politics, the deck has really been stacked against working families across upstate New York, … so I'm running for Congress to change that.”
Riley encouraged college students and young voters to take action in this high-stakes election.
“This is one of the most competitive congressional districts in the entire country. So if you are a student on campus and you are concerned about the future direction of the country, the good news is that you have a real, meaningful opportunity to make a difference by getting involved in this campaign,” Riley said.
In New York State, U.S. citizens 18 years of age or older who have been residents of the state for at least 30 days and do not claim the right to vote elsewhere are eligible to vote as long as they are not currently incarcerated for a felony conviction, ruled “mentally incompetent” by a court or simultaneously claim the right to vote in another state.
All full-time Cornell students on the Ithaca campus will have reached the 30-day eligibility mark by 2024 Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Clarification, Sept. 25, 8:11 p.m.: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of New York State Electric and Gas.
