ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s a three-way race this year in the effort to win the Democratic primary in New York’s 25th Congressional District, with two of the candidates taking on an incumbent.

“There’s 771,000 people for whom I am their only representative,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle. “So, locally, in Washington, wherever I go, I think about how to make sure that their lives are better.”

The 25th Congressional District includes Monroe County and parts of Ontario County. 

The current representative is speaking about his priorities, including the economy.

“So, inflation is now at its highest level it’s been in years,” Morelle said. “And that’s wrong. People are struggling understandably. So, the tariffs have to come off. We have to start investing in local communities. We have to think about what our strengths are economically.”

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Morelle is taking on the Trump administration on the issue of immigration.

“First of all, the immigration system is completely broken in this country,” he said. “And the president talked about enhancing border security, which we’ve done and I support. But I also strongly believe there ought to be a path to citizenship.”

Morelle is fighting plans for an immigration detention center at Rochester’s federal building.

“I think it’s so inappropriate to put a detention center in that building,” he said.

“We can stop one detention center,” said Morelle’s opponent, Sherita Traywick. “But what happens in the rest of the country? Children are still going to be detained. Innocent people that are working are still going to be detained. We have to fix the system.”

As a relative newcomer to politics, Traywick isn’t shy about getting her message out and taking on an incumbent.

“I’m grateful for his service,” said Traywick. “I just think that we have a president in office right now that requires a different kind of leadership. We need bold, we need fresh ideas. We need people that are going to be willing to make the other side work with us.”

She adds that the economy and affordability are top priorities.

“There’s no Democrat price. There’s no Republican price. All the groceries are too expensive,” Traywick said. “And so, you start to think about, well, what are the reasons that are driving those costs up? One, we’re in a war that hasn’t even been sanctioned by Congress. It’s an illegal war. We need to get out.”

“I’ve never been somebody who has been beholden to the Democratic establishment and the powers that be,” said opponent Robin Wilt.

Wilt is a former local school board member.

“I’m running because I think that, especially at this time, we need leadership that is meeting this moment in history,” said Wilt. “Right now, we have an executive branch that is targeting certain people in our communities. We have immigration fairness is not a thing right now. And I think that we need to make sure that we are all assured our equal rights and due process is under the law.”

Wilt says she will focus on healthcare, economic justice and justice and equality.

“I think that we need somebody who is going to lead boldly on the issues of equal protection under the law, on the issues,” Wilt said. “And, right now, we don’t have a champion in the seat who is actually doing all of those things.”

The winner will face the Republican candidate in the race, Virginia McIntyre, in the general election in November.

New York’s primary elections will be held on June 23. Early voting runs from June 13-21.