Mario Fratto thinks he's best choice for GOP voters, Trump in run for Congress [The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.]

Mar. 1—Mario Fratto does not want Republican voters in the newly drawn 24th Congressional District to compromise.

Fratto, a Geneva attorney who runs his family's granite manufacturing and installation business, breaks down his opposition for the Republican nomination. U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs, the incumbent in the 14-county district that stretches from western New York to the North Country, was one of 35 Republicans who voted for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He was one of 11 GOP members who voted to strip U.S. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, of her committee assignments. He also voted for a farm workforce bill that would provide undocumented laborers a pathway to citizenship.

The votes, Fratto says, are "not too conservative." He would not have voted for any of those measures.

Another potential GOP primary foe, Andrew McCarthy, has advocated for a public health insurance option — a position usually held by left-of-center Democrats and not conservative Republicans. McCarthy has also said the 2020 presidential election, which former President Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, was "fair and square." Fratto disagrees, saying most Republicans think that "there were things done to interfere in the election." He believes there should be certain election reforms, such as restrictions on mail-in voting and the implementation of a voter identification requirement.

"If we can make people show a vaccine card to go get a cheeseburger in New York, but they say it's too big of a hassle to ask people to show identification to vote I think is absurd," he said. "If we lose the integrity in our elections, then we have a problem with our whole republic."

He also opposes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and noted that many Republicans think there should be limits on legal immigration.

Fratto acknowledges he faces an uphill battle in the 24th district, which includes all or parts of eight towns in northern Cayuga County. Jacobs has the financial edge — his campaign has $334,153 — and the incumbent advantage. He has been endorsed by a fellow upstater, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is the House Republican Conference chair. In western New York, the area Jacobs has represented since 2020, the local Republican committees are lining up behind him.

But Fratto hopes to give Republican voters an alternative. In addition to his policy differences with Jacobs and other GOP candidates, he highlights his work ethic, from having a newspaper route as a boy to going back to school to study constitutional law. He returned home to the Finger Lakes to work in construction and run his family's business, Geneva Granite.

"I don't view myself as an out-of-touch person who always had the silver spoon and just came up into politics," he said. "It was something I looked at and said I don't like the direction the country is heading. We're depending on China for everything. We're losing jobs. You need both parents to work and they still can't get by. This isn't the American dream ... The country is on such a path that we're heading toward a future we wouldn't want for our children."

Before the district lines were redrawn, Fratto sought to succeed U.S. Rep. Tom Reed in Congress. Reed, who represents the existing 23rd district, announced he will not seek reelection this year.

Redistricting altered Fratto's plans. His current residence is just outside of the newly drawn 24th district — Geneva is now in the 22nd district, which is comprised of eight central New York counties, including most of Cayuga County. (Members of Congress are not required to live in the districts they represent.)

When he looked at the new maps, he felt he was more connected to the 24th. If he is elected, he plans to live in the district — he has property in the town of Seneca, Ontario County.

"You have Ontario in there, part of Yates... that's the Finger Lakes and that's my community," he said. "That's where my family comes from. That's where I built my life and I think that they deserve the best representation they can get."

Something that could give Fratto a boost is an endorsement from Trump. Trump has endorsed in other New York congressional races — he is supporting Stefanik and U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney in their reelection bids. But he has not endorsed in the 24th district race.

Fratto recalls what Trump said after the House voted for the creation of a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Trump described the 35 Republicans who voted for the bill as "wayward" and warned that there are "consequences to being ineffective and weak."

"I don't think President Trump should be endorsing him," Fratto said, referring to Jacobs. "I don't think he will."

In the 24th district, Fratto is positioning himself as the Trump candidate. He says he began supporting Trump during the 2016 primaries and launched a YouTube channel to help the former president's 2020 reelection bid.

Trump's backing could help Fratto with fundraising and increase his name recognition — two things he needs to overcome Jacobs' advantage among GOP voters.

"My loyalty to his presidency and what he's done for his country, I think, is highly above everybody else in the race and I would love to have his endorsement," Fratto said.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

___

(c)2022 The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.

Visit The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y. at www.auburnpub.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.