Northern New York Republicans have spoken, and they\u2019re standing with President Donald Trump over party.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Republicans in the 21st Congressional District on Tuesday decisively chose Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino to be the Republican nominee to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, with over 59% of the vote as of 11 p.m. with over 85% of election districts reporting results to the state Board of Elections. That\u2019s compared to about 40% of ballots cast for Assembly Member Robert Smullen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say, I wouldn\u2019t be here today if it wasn\u2019t for President Trump,\u201d Constantino said during his victory speech at Lanzi\u2019s on the Lake in Fulton County. \u201cI saw what he did and I said, \u2018Well, I don\u2019t act like a typical politician, either, but he doesn\u2019t. Maybe I can make this work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump endorsed Constantino over Smullen, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, who has the backing of the state Republican Party, many local county committees and the seven Republicans in the state\u2019s congressional delegation.<\/p>\n
And Stefanik, who stayed silent on endorsing her replacement until tonight, finally backed Constantino after his victory became apparent, posting on X<\/a> that she\u2019s \u201cseen enough,\u201d adding, \u201cIn the coming months, I know Anthony will continue to work hard to earn your support.\u201d<\/p>\n But the intraparty fight could be far from over. Smullen will appear on the Conservative Party line in November, and exclusively told City & State that he\u2019s assessing his options in the coming days. Candidates have 10 days after the primary to remove themselves from a ballot line.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the outcome that we wanted, we fought very hard,\u201d Smullen told City & State by phone Tuesday night. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful to people in all 15 counties that have supported me. I have secured the Conservative ballot line for November and in the coming days, I will assess what that path forward looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n Smullen congratulated Constantino on his victory, and, in response to Stefanik\u2019s decision not to endorse him, the Assembly member said: \u201cThe people have spoken tonight, and they have made their choice for the Republican nominee.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s little surprise that Constantino came out on top after Trump recorded a special video<\/a> and posted on Truth Social<\/a> on Monday reminding voters of why the president endorsed him. \u201cAnd before running for Congress, he was a professional boxer, so he\u2019s tough,\u201d Trump said in the video. \u201cAnthony was born to be a fighter, frankly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Many Republican voters in NY-21 were intimidated<\/a> by the nasty primary race, but now Constantino\u2019s campaign focus is shifting to defeat dairy farmer Blake Gendebien, who won the district\u2019s Democratic primary with 65% of the vote over Stuart Amoriell, according to Board of Elections data.<\/p>\n