In a Republican stronghold in northern New York, the race to replace Representative Elise Stefanik has had something of a carnivalesque feel, driven by Anthony Constantino, the Republican heir apparent.<\/p>\n
There was the wall of frozen turkeys that served as a backdrop to his campaign launch. The rap album that he made in tribute to President Trump, or the seven-foot bronze statue of Mr. Trump that he gave to the president<\/a>.<\/p>\n But as Election Day nears, Mr. Constantino\u2019s showmanship, as well as his feverish loyalty to Mr. Trump, may have opened the door for his Democratic opponent, Blake Gendebien, to flip a seat that has been under Republican control for most of the last 150 years.<\/p>\n A Siena University poll<\/a> released in early October showed Mr. Gendebien (pronounced GEN-da-bean) with a narrow edge over Mr. Constantino, a remarkable turn in a district where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by 80,000 voters.<\/p>\n The shifts in the district have jolted the Democratic campaign apparatus into action. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the 21st Congressional District to its Red to Blue program this month, unlocking operational and financial support for Mr. Gendebien to combat the $16 million Mr. Constantino has plowed into his self-funded campaign.<\/p>\n Mr. Gendebien, 49, a second-generation dairy farmer, attributed the tightening of the race to his message of bringing down fuel and fertilizer costs resonating with voters. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled we\u2019re hitting all the right notes,\u201d he said in an interview last week.<\/p>\n Mr. Gendebien, a second-generation dairy farmer, is running as a conservative Democrat, in part to appeal to the district\u2019s Republican leanings.Credit…Patrick Dodson for The New York Times<\/p>\n \u201cAnd,\u201d he added as almost an afterthought, \u201cwe have uniquely the worst Republican opponent in the United States in Constantino.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the district\u2019s conservative history, Mr. Gendebien has been mindful of maintaining a Republican-friendly message of improving economic conditions for residents of the North Country by reversing cuts to rural health care, undoing \u201cburdensome\u201d environmental regulations and repairing relations with Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a conservative, old-school, free-market capitalist Democrat,\u201d Mr. Gendebien said of his political philosophy. He calls himself a patriot, and is careful to distance himself from others in his party \u2014 particularly the top of the ticket, Gov. Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n In the Siena poll<\/a> of likely voters in the 21st District, Ms. Hochul trailed her Republican challenger, Bruce Blakeman, by a double-digit margin.<\/p>\n Even so, Ms. Hochul has been a major supporter of Mr. Gendebien\u2019s campaign, talking him up to major donors and House leadership, and sharing a field office in the North Country.<\/p>\n The race had the early markings of a blowout. Ms. Stefanik has owned the seat since being elected in 2014, and her fervent defense of Mr. Trump helped elevate her own, short-lived challenge to Ms. Hochul\u2019s re-election bid this year.<\/p>\n But Ms. Stefanik surprisingly decided to bow out of the race, simultaneously announcing<\/a> that she would leave Congress after finishing out her term this year.<\/p>\n Mr. Constantino, a 43-year-old sticker magnate who won attention<\/a> by erecting a 12-foot-high \u201cVOTE FOR TRUMP\u201d sign atop his company\u2019s headquarters in Amsterdam, N.Y., easily won his party\u2019s primary even while antagonizing local Republican leaders.<\/p>\n Mr. Constantino first garnered national attention after he placed a giant \u201cVote for Trump\u201d sign atop his sticker company building in Amsterdam, N.Y.Credit…Cindy Schultz for The New York Times<\/p>\n During the primary, Mr. Constantino viciously mocked his Republican rival, Assemblyman Robert Smullen. He repeatedly found himself in publicized feuds with Republican and Conservative leaders, and once accused Gerard Kassar, the Conservative Party chairman, of threatening to kill him. (He also sought to draw a connection between the alleged threat and a subsequent incident where the brake lines in the car of one of his aides may have been cut; Mr. Kassar sued for defamation.)<\/p>\n He\u2019s also come under fire for the company he keeps. There was the Nevada man who had an open murder charge he briefly employed, and the two business associates<\/a> who were arrested after a man claimed they beat, kidnapped and threatened to set him on fire. That\u2019s on top of one of his press aides, who was accused of swindling a Little League team<\/a>, and another aide who pleaded guilty to harassment after accusations he molested a 14-year-old.<\/p>\n Mr. Constantino has said that he believes in giving people second chances, saying in an interview earlier this year that it was not his job to \u201cfurther punish people beyond what the justice system deems appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n As the race draws closer, Mr. Constantino has not strayed from favoring political antics. In August, he sent Mr. Gendebien \u2014 a former vice chairman of the cooperative that produces Cabot cheese \u2014 a gourmet cheese basket.<\/p>\n Mr. Gendebien filed a report with the New York State Police accusing Mr. Constantino of harassment for allegedly directing drones over his farm.Credit…Patrick Dodson for The New York Times<\/p>\n On Saturday, he staged a mock debate<\/a> in a parking lot stacked with pumpkins, using a person in a chicken costume as a stand-in for Mr. Gendebien, who was not present.<\/p>\n And then there are the drones.<\/p>\n