The crisis in Ukraine is now taking center stage in Vote 2022, with a candidate for U.S. Senate criticizing the Democrats for not enacting stiffer penalties on Russia sooner.

Joe Pinion is a Republican advocate, entrepreneur and political commentator looking to unseat four-term Democrat incumbent, Sen. Chuck Schumer this November.

In his first sit-down interview since last week's Republican convention, the Yonkers Republican blamed his opponent for not doing enough preemptively to de-escalate the war

Pinion is the first Black candidate to be nominated by either major party to run for U.S. Senate from New York.

News 12 reached out to Majority Leader Schumer's office for a comment.