Republican Claudia Tenney won the GOP primary Tuesday in the 122nd Congressional District to earn a rematch with incumbent Democrat Anthony Brindisi, who defeated Tenney two years ago in the General Election after she had served only one-term in Congress.
Tenney, of New Hartford, easily defeated challenger George Phillips, a teacher and educator, in Tuesday’s GOP primary by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Brindisi, a Utica resident, was unopposed on the Democrat ballot.
In their 2018 race for Congress, Brindisi beat Tenney, who was first elected in 2016, by a 4,500 vote margin.
Tenney issued a statement late Tuesday: “President Trump needs allies in Washington – to fight for our commonsense conservative values. I will continue our great work in Congress to protect our seniors, honor our veterans, save our family farms, and help our small businesses. It is important now more than ever to rebuild the great economy that we helped to grow that was knocked down as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. I will continue my Made in America initiative and will work in Congress to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable and protect and return our jobs to America and put Upstate New York first.”
Brindisi did not issue a statement Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. A news release from his office noted the congressman has $2.3 million in the bank for the upcoming general election in November — more than five times the combined bank accounts of Tenney and Libertarian candidate Keith Price.
