Far-right trucker kicked off congressional ballot for forging signatures jumps back into race against Elise Stefanik

On Thursday, North Country Public Radio reported that a far-right trucker kicked off the New York GOP primary ballot for alleged signature forgery is redeclaring his candidacy against Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) — taking advantage of the opening created by courts forcing a redraw of New York's congressional maps.

"Lonny Koons, a North Country trucker, announced he’s reviving his campaign for Congress. He’s challenging Rep. Elise Stefanik for the Republican nomination in New York’s 21st Congressional district, which includes most of the North Country in the new election maps," reported Celia Clarke. "Koons ended his campaign earlier this year after accusations that he broke petitioning rules."

Koons is making residency a key point of his campaign. The new map puts Stefanik's residence in Schuylerville just outside of the 21st District, and he is arguing the district should be represented by a resident.

According to the Watertown Daily Times, Koons holds a number of extreme positions.

"He brands himself as a blue-collar man of the people, intent on bridging the wide gap between liberal and conservative voters in today’s U.S.," reported Alex Gault. "He’s a radical supporter of the Second Amendment, notably believing that American citizens should have access to all the same weaponry the U.S. government has, including nuclear weapons. He believes in some of the false allegations that voter fraud was rampant in the 2020 presidential election, supports term limits for members of the House of Representatives and has promoted a regulatory committee to control social media companies, news organizations and other publishers."

Stefanik herself has come under controversy in recent weeks for promoting "great replacement theory," the idea that sinister forces are pushing mass migration of nonwhite people into majority-white countries to eliminate white people, or at least subjugate them politically. She has vehemently denied her comments, which claimed Democrats want to use immigrant amnesty to "overthrow the current electorate," are meant to endorse the great replacement.