A super PAC aligned with House Republicans has spent nearly $1 million in support of GOP candidate Steve Wells, with most of those expenditures coming in the closing days of the 22nd Congressional District primary campaign.聽
The Congressional Leadership Fund has spent $980,776 to back Wells, R-Cazenovia, in the Republican primary against Brandon Williams, a GOP candidate from Cayuga County. Federal Election Commission records show the super PAC's latest independent expenditures totaled $232,347 in the last three days.聽
Most of those funds were spent on a TV ad targeting Williams that is now airing in central New York. There were also expenditures for phone calls supporting Wells and text messages opposing Williams.
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The expenditures do not include a $5,000 donation to Wells, whose campaign disclosed the contribution on Saturday.聽
The super PAC's investments in the NY-22 Republican primary make it the top spender in the congressional race. The pre-primary filings, which covered activity from July 1 through Aug. 3, show Wells' campaign spent $462,886. The total does not include any new spending in the last two-plus weeks before the primary.聽
Williams has spent $78,232 in his congressional bid.聽
Wells and Williams are vying for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. John Katko, who declined to run for a fifth term in Congress.聽
Wells is the co-founder of American Food and Vending Corporation and previously served as a criminal prosecutor in Fort Worth, Texas. He has highlighted his experience in TV ads paid for by his campaign.聽
Williams is a U.S. Navy veteran 鈥 he served as a nuclear submarine officer 鈥 and tech entrepreneur. When he moved to central New York, he and his wife, Stephanie, started a truffle farm.聽
Wells has been endorsed by the four Republican county chairs in the 22nd district, which includes all of Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties. A small part of Oswego County is also in the district.聽
Williams has the backing of the state Conservative Party. If he loses the GOP primary, he could continue his congressional campaign on the minor party line.聽
The 22nd district race is expected to be one of the most competitive House races in the country. Democrats have 21,175 more active voters, according to the state Board of Elections. But Katko won four terms in a similar district.聽
Both major parties have primary elections on Tuesday. While Wells and Williams square off for the Republican nomination, four Democrats 鈥 Francis Conole, Sarah Klee Hood, Chol Majok and Sam Roberts 鈥 are vying for their party's nod.聽
Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.
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Cayuga County-area congressional and NY Senate primary coverage
Robert Harding
Online producer and politics reporter
