Two candidates will face off in the 24th Congressional District Democratic primary race later this month. An exclusive Spectrum News/Siena College Research Institute poll shows Juanita Perez Williams ahead of Dana Balter.

The race is on for Republican incumbent Congressman John Katko's seat.

“The fact the Congressman Katko is viewed unfavorably by 63 percent of likely Democratic primary voters is certainly a telling sign that these democratic primary voters are ready to take on Congressman Katko in the fall,” said Pollster Steven Greenberg.

Katko faces no GOP challengers. But, two Democrats are primarying to challenge him in the fall. Former Syracuse Mayoral candidate Juanita Perez Williams and SU professor Dana Balter will be on the ballot June 26.

“Perez Williams coming off a campaign last year for mayor of the city of Syracuse is clearly more well-known throughout the district. Overwhelmingly more known in the city of Syracuse, which represents a little bit less than a quarter of the congressional district,” he said.

According to a Spectrum News/Siena College Research Institute Poll, Perez Williams is ahead of Balter by double digits.

“While Perez Williams has a sizeable lead at 13 points this race is not over, but it really is going to come down to which campaign has more money to be on the air, has a better ground game to reach their voters and does a better job a week from Tuesday in getting their voters to the polls,” Greenburg said.

Perez Williams has a 15 point lead among women and a 9 point lead among men. Greenberg says there is a significant break in those polled when it comes to age.

“While Perez Williams has a larger lead among the younger and more middle aged voters, they are less realiable so she's gotta really push to get those voters to the polls as she continues to convince older voters to be in her camp,” he said.

But, 23 percent of the 513 likely primary voters polled say they don't know who they're voting for yet.

“The fact that only about a third of voters say they have either seen a Balter commercial or have been contacted by the Balter campaign, that's gotta be concerning to them. Perez Williams' campaign doing better, but still nearly half of these likely Democratic voters say they haven't been contacted or seen an add from the Perez Williams campaign so both campaigns have a lot of work to do,” Greenberg said.