Upstate freshman Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro is accusing his Democratic rival Josh Riley of putting out a “misleading” attack ad featuring a farmer who doesn’t even live in their district.
“I usually vote Republican. But there’s no way in hell I’m voting for Marc Molinaro,” farmer Mike McMahon says in the 30-second TV spot.
But McMahon resides in Homer, in the 22nd District — not the 19th District — where Molinaro is facing off in a contentious rematch against Riley
McMahon, while claiming he “usually votes Republican,” is also a registered Democrat, according to Board of Elections records.
In the ad, McMahon claims that Molinaro “sold out” local farmers to China, making it easier for the Communist Party to buy farmland.
“Josh Riley’s ad is so misleading. The man in the ad sold his farm, doesn’t live in our congressional district and makes unsupported claims,” Molinaro said in a statement on X.
“I sponsored and voted to prohibit Chinese companies from buying American farmland. I have always listened to & fought for our farmers. I’ve always had their backs & always will.”
McMahon declined to comment.
Riley declined a request for comment.
It’s a tight race.
A poll released last week by Survey USA for NewsChannel 13 had Riley ahead 4 percentage points, 46% to 42%, with the rest undecided.
That’s within the poll’s plus or minus 4.9 point margin of error.
In 2022, Molinaro beat Riley by about 4,500 votes, or less than 2 percentage points.
Molinaro is a former Dutchess County executive who was the Republican candidate for governor in 2018.
An attorney, Riley served as general counsel to former US Senator Al Franken on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The former SNL comedian, who resigned from office after several women accused him of sexual misconduct, has done fundraising for Riley.
