The bitter NY-21 primary highlights a fractured GOP

When you drive through parts of Northern New York, you’d never know the 21st Congressional District is days away from the end of a bitter Republican primary. There’s hardly any campaign signs for either Assembly Member Robert Smullen and Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino as they vie to be the party nominee to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik in Congress. And that’s intentional.

“A lot of people are afraid to put signs out just yet until the primary,” Fulton County Republican Committee Treasurer Gail Peters told City & State. “People are kind of intimidated.”

Peters was one of a few dozen people who attended a rally in Johnston on Thursday where  GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio flew in to stump for Constantino at Epimed, a medical device manufacturing company.

The nasty primary battle isn’t about a difference of ideology, but rather, a fight for power, and shows forces the party to a crossroads to choose between loyalty to Trump or to established party leaders.

President Donald Trump has endorsed Constantino to succeed Stefanik, while Smullen has the backing of the state Republican Party and many local county committees. Jordan, who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, is a strong Trump ally and the first member of Congress to publicly endorse Constantino. The seven Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation endorsed Smullen early on.

“I think Anthony will be like your current member of Congress – I think he'll be like Elise,” Jordan told reporters. “I’ve been close with Elise, and I just feel like Anthony's in that same mold. She's a fighter.”

Jordan also defended Constantino, who was a registered Democrat until 2024 while he lived in the deep-blue city of Albany. 

“Ronald Reagan was a Democrat before he became a great Republican,” Jordan said.

Meanwhile, Constantino, who’s also been endorsed by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, isn’t concerned that most local Republican leaders are backing Smullen instead. Smullen, a retired U.S. Marine colonel who served 24 years, has deep roots and friends in the North Country, having represented parts of Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Oneida and Otsego counties in the state Assembly since 2019.

“People generally that have been running an organization for a long time don't like outsiders, particularly ones that are going to come in and fix things,” Constantino told reporters. “The New York Republican establishment is having a lot of problems, and I want to come in and fix things, and I’ve dealt with that in business. People are resistant to turnarounds until you make it happen, then they like you. So, I think everyone’s going to end up liking me, but right now, there’s a little resistance.”

That resistance has struck fear in the hearts of many NY-21 voters. Several rallygoers said North Country voters are on pins and needles about publicly discussing who they support, and declined to be interviewed – adding local leaders fear Smullen’s influence, which they share. 

Smullen, who did three combat tours in Afghanistan after 9/11, has blasted Constantino in attack ads for previously being “a lifelong Democrat” and has highlighted news reports that Constantino's campaign hires people accused or convicted of serious crimes. He’s also said the Sticker Mule CEO has profited from printing and selling anti-Trump, anti-police and pro-transgender stickers or other merchandise. And, most recently, Smullen has fiercely attacked Constantino and his allies for accusing Smullen of using his late 14-year-old son, AJ, who died in a 2024 accident, as a political prop. “Let that sink in – they use the death of my child as a weapon,” Smullen told reporters in Gloversville on Monday. “I stood before the people of this district, and I called that despicable, because that's what it is.”

Both candidates frequently accuse the other of being a liar. Constantino’s attorney Alejandro Brito sent Smullen a demand letter on Monday as a final warning before a potential defamation lawsuit. The letter alleges Smullen has repeatedly made false and defamatory statements that have damaged Constantino’s reputation. Smullen received two similar earlier warnings on March 25 and May 14, according to the letter.

Several members of the Fulton County Republican Committee attended Thursday’s rally to support Constantino. But it’s no surprise committee members are at odds with Smullen. Some of his relatives and political allies sued Fulton County GOP Chair Susan McNeil and the county executive board to challenge the election of the committee’s officers, and alleged candidates failed to properly file campaign finance disclosures. Peters said Stefanik’s campaign gave the county committee $26,000 to cover legal fees, and the case was ultimately dropped.

“I already voted for Anthony Constantino because he didn’t sue me,” Peters said. “I imagine people are intimidated by (Smullen) because of his position right now. If he gets any more power, then he’s going to wreak havoc on anybody that went against him.”

At the time of the suit, Stefanik railed against the intraparty fighting. She has not endorsed a candidate in the race. Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, has refused to take a side in the race.

“That seat is incredibly important to keep, so I’ve stayed out of it,” Blakeman told reporters in Albany on May 28. “You have President Trump making an endorsement to one candidate and then you have our state chairman making an endorsement to another candidate, so, I think you’ve got to let it play out.”

Supporters of Smullen and Constantino clashed openly on Tuesday at an Upstate Conservative Coalition forum in Saratoga Springs that featured both candidates. Constantino’s supporters shouted and cursed at Smullen, and Constantino said it was later revealed to him that organizers gave Smullen the questions ahead of time to give him an edge. Smullen’s campaign said that’s a lie.

“Voters in this district deserve honest answers, and I will always give them honest answers,” Smullen said in a statement. “What happened this week was not a policy disagreement. It was an organized attempt to prevent voters from hearing the truth. That tells you everything you need to know about where Anthony Constantino’s campaign stands days before the primary.”

Smullen was arrested in 2018 and was accused of double-dipping on a property tax exemption – which Constantino frequently frames as“first-degree felony tax fraud.”The charge was ultimately reduced to a minor civil violation (comparable to a parking ticket). And in televised ads, Constantino has attacked Smullen for never endorsing or actively campaigning for Trump, and claims that the Assembly member operates a taxpayer-funded solar farm with ties to communist China. Smullen said that accusation is false and defamatory.

“Make no mistake, these are carefully curated attacks meant to deceive voters into supporting my opponent,” Smullen said. “Yet, the lies continue.”

Before Thursday’s rally with Jordan, Constantino’s campaign put up several “Constantino for Congress” signs on the road leading to Epimed. By the time the rally concluded, two signs promoting dairy farmer Blake Gendebein, a Democrat running in NY-21, had appeared alongside them. Gendebein’s favored in the Democratic primary next week against Stuart Amoriell. But whoever wins the nomination, Democrats are hopeful that the infighting among Republicans means there’s a rare opening to win the North Country. In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a Young Democrats Women’s Caucus speech that she has confidence that Democrats can flip the heavily red district seat, where registered Republicans roughly outnumber Democrats 3 to 1.