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Here’s 3 things you need to know about the candidates in Tuesday’s Democratic primary

Dan Lyon | Staff Photographer

(From left) Congressional candidates Dana Balter, Bill Bass and Juanita Perez Williams participate in a spring forum. Balter and Perez Williams are both on the ballot in Tuesday's Democratic primary.

By Jordan MullerSenior Staff Writer

Voters in New York’s 24th Congressional District, which includes Syracuse, will hit the polls Tuesday in a primary that will decide which Democratic candidate will face Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) in November.

Dana Balter, a visiting assistant teaching professor in Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is facing off against Juanita Perez Williams, a Navy veteran who was defeated by Ben Walsh in the  2017 Syracuse mayoral race.

Here are three things you need to know about each candidate before the Tuesday primary:

1. Both candidates take similar stances on most issues

Balter and Perez Williams tend to agree on most hot-button national issues, according to Syracuse.com. Both Democrats support:

  • Universal background checks for all gun purchases
  • Recreational marijuana legalization
  • A path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
  • Repealing the Republican tax bill
  • Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour

Both oppose:



  • Funding for a southern border wall with Mexico
  • Repealing the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”
  • The end of net neutrality

2. Perez Williams leads in a recent poll

A recent Spectrum News/Siena College poll found Perez Williams leading Balter by 13 points among likely Democratic voters.

The poll found that Perez Williams is 23 percentage points ahead of Balter in the 18-34 age group.  The Navy veteran also leads among both male and female voters.

Balter is eight points behind Perez Williams among voters outside Syracuse.

3. Balter has received a higher percentage of small donations

Balter, who announced her congressional campaign in September 2017, has outraised Perez Williams by about $200,000, according to June 6 Federal Election Commission filings. Balter has raised about $302,000, while Perez Williams has raised roughly $106,000.

About 43 percent of Balter’s fundraising has come from individual donations of $200 or less, according to FEC filings. Only about 6 percent of Perez Williams’s total contributions have been less than $200.

Though Balter has outraised Perez Williams in the lead-up to Tuesday’s primary, the former mayoral candidate has enjoyed more than $268,000 in support from liberal outside spending groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Those groups include VoteVets.org, a hybrid PAC/super PAC dedicated to electing veterans, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Party’s main committee for electing Democrats to the House of Representatives.

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