‘Uniquely the worst Republican opponent’: MAGA candidate could blow Stefanik’s safe seat

A House seat in upstate New York held by outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) since 2015 is in danger of flipping to Democrats in next week’s election, and the New York Times reports the Republican nominee’s devotion to Donald Trump may be hurting his chances.

The Times described the race in the GOP stronghold as having “something of a carnivalesque feel,” driven by Republican nominee Anthony Constantino. With the election days away, the paper reported, Constantino’s theatrics and fervent loyalty to Trump may have given Democrat Blake Gendebien a real shot at a seat Republicans have held for most of the past century and a half.

A Siena poll released in early October showed Gendebien leading Constantino 46% to 42%. That’s a notable reversal for a district with 80,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, the Times noted. Constantino’s campaign called the survey unscientific.

This month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added New York’s 21st District to its Red to Blue program. The designation brings Gendebien money and organizing help as he takes on an opponent who has spent $16 million of his own fortune on the race.

Gendebien, 49, a second-generation dairy farmer, credited the tightening race to his message on lowering fuel and fertilizer costs. “We’re thrilled we’re hitting all the right notes,” he told the Times, before adding: “we have uniquely the worst Republican opponent in the United States in Constantino.”

The race initially looked like a lock for Republicans. Stefanik has held the seat since winning it in 2014, and her loyalty to Trump boosted her short-lived challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul. But she unexpectedly quit the governor’s race and said she would not seek another term in the House.

That cleared the way for Constantino, 43, a sticker company magnate who first drew national attention by putting a 12-foot “VOTE FOR TRUMP” sign atop his headquarters in Amsterdam, New York. He cruised through the GOP primary despite clashing with local Republican leaders.

Constantino, a 43-year-old sticker magnate who drew attention for putting a 12-foot “VOTE FOR TRUMP” sign on top of his company’s headquarters in Amsterdam, N.Y., easily won the GOP primary while antagonizing local Republican leaders.

During the primary, the Times reported, Constantino viciously ridiculed rival Assemblyman Robert Smullen, including over the death of Smullen’s son. He also feuded publicly and repeatedly with Republican and Conservative Party leaders and was once accused of threatening the life of Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar. Constantino later accused Kassar of cutting the brake lines on a staffer’s car, and Kassar sued him for defamation.