Brandon Williams won't represent Cayuga County in Congress, but he made local history with his win in the neighboring 22nd Congressional District race.聽
Williams, a Republican who lives in Sennett, is the first Cayuga County resident elected to Congress in 61 years. The last was John Taber, an Auburn Republican who served for 40 years, from 1923 to 1963, in the House of Representatives. He rose to become chair of the House Appropriations Committee.聽
Taber and Williams have different histories in Cayuga County. Taber was born in Auburn and after graduating from Yale and New York Law School, returned home to practice law. He served on the Cayuga County Board of Supervisors, the predecessor to the county Legislature, and chaired the local Republican Party.
Williams is a Texas native and U.S. Navy veteran who bought a 67-acre property in the town of Sennett in 2008. He聽told 新加坡多多开奖记录聽shortly after declaring his candidacy for Congress that he and his wife, Stephanie, decided to move to central New York after his sister-in-law and her husband settled here.聽
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While the Williamses started a farm,聽they split time between Sennett and California. Brandon Williams started a software company in Silicon Valley.聽
When Williams launched his congressional campaign, the 22nd district drawn by the Democratic-led state Legislature included most of Cayuga County. The lawmakers' maps were tossed by the state Court of Appeals and a court-appointed special master redrew new congressional lines.聽
The final version of the 22nd district is comprised of Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties, along with a portion of the town of Constantia in Oswego County.聽
Williams could have decided to run in the 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Cayuga County. But after Republican U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney chose to run for reelection in the new 24th, Williams opted to seek the GOP nomination in the 22nd district. He upset Steve Wells in the Republican primary, then defeated Democratic candidate Francis Conole in the general election on Tuesday.
Members of Congress do not have to live in the districts they represent. Williams has pledged to move into the 22nd district, even though his current residence is less than two miles away from Cayuga-Onondaga county line.聽
Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.