ALBANY, New York — President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the messy Republican primary to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik has set up a fresh test of his influence in a deep-red House district, with New York GOP leaders refusing to fall in line.
Trump gave his coveted endorsement this week to businessperson Anthony Constantino, the CEO of merchandising company Sticker Mule, who is waging an insurgent bid against Republican Assemblymember Robert Smullen — the establishment favorite.
Smullen, a retired Marine colonel, has lined up the backing of Republican elected officials, county chairs and state party leaders. Constantino, by contrast, has leaned on celebrity MAGA figures like Roger Stone and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani — both of whom Trump namechecked in his Truth Social post announcing the endorsement.
Though Trump’s endorsement is often decisive in a GOP primary, Smullen’s supporters are digging in, deepening the split in the fight to replace Stefanik and raising the stakes as Democrats watch closely for a pickup opportunity.
“We’re big supporters of the president,” said New York Conservative Party Chair Jerry Kassar. “We just simply feel that on this one he got it wrong.”
Kassar, who is suing Constantino for defamation after the candidate alleged the party leader threatened to kill him and attempted to murder a press aide, said he talked up Smullen’s candidacy to the White House in a bid to convince the president to back his candidate. Those entreaties didn’t work.
“It may be we were fighting an uphill battle on this one,” Kassar said.
Constantino is unruffled by the lack of institutional backing, saying in an interview that establishment Republican leaders are shocked by the support he has from Trump.
“These swamp creatures are embarrassing themselves,” he said. “In the next few days and weeks maybe they’ll wise up.”
The primary is playing out in an expansive and largely rural North Country House district that Trump won in each of his presidential campaigns. Stefanik has represented the district for more than a decade and emerged as a stalwart supporter of the president. The influential Republican House member is retiring this year and steering clear of the fight to replace her.
In that power vacuum, Constantino is challenging a party favorite with a brash, no-holds-barred campaign. He’s blasted Smullen as “Slime Bob” and tangled with reporters who have written critically about his candidacy. Smullen, in turn, has knocked Sticker Mule products, which include some bawdy stickers featuring Trump.
In a statement, Smullen said he has the “utmost respect” for the president and is committed to the America First agenda. He attacked Constantino as “a fraud, plain and simple” who is “morally unfit” to be in Congress.
“You cannot fake being a conservative overnight or buy a seat in Congress,” Smullen said. “Voters see through it.”
And Smullen is benefiting from his ties with establishment Republicans. New York’s GOP House delegation will host a fundraiser for him next week in Washington — an event that’s also drawing Marc Molinaro, a former Trump administration official now running for the state Assembly. Smullen is also due to appear at a fundraiser this weekend that will also feature Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the GOP gubernatorial candidate who Trump endorsed.
“It’s important for North Country voters and people within the district to select their candidates and that’s what primaries are for,” said Clinton County Republican Chair Jerika Manning. “And I think the overwhelming support by the majority of the Republicans in the district has been for Assemblyman Smullen.”
But in the Trump era, overt institutional ties can backfire on a Republican running without the support of the most influential GOP endorser of them all: the president himself.
“They’re disrespecting the wishes of the president,” Constantino said. “The president stands with the citizens.”
Republicans want to avoid a repeat of 2009, when the Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman split support with Republican Dede Scozzafava, leading to Democrat Bill Owens’ victory in the congressional contest. Smullen has the Conservative Party’s ballot line, which he has not ruled out carrying into the general election. As a result, Democrats are eyeing the district as a longshot opportunity, especially if such a scenario plays out after the June primary.
Flipping the seat would remain a stretch for Democrats, but some party officials believe a combination of Trump’s tariffs, elevated fuel prices and a split Republican Party would be beneficial.
Smullen’s campaign released a poll — conducted prior to the Trump endorsement — that showed him leading Constantino by 10 points. (Constantino’s campaign commissioned its own poll in February showing a massive lead for their candidate.)
“He’s clearly doing something right instead of focusing on all the noise,” a New York Republican operative not involved in either campaign and granted anonymity to speak frankly about the race’s dynamics said of Smullen. “If he can continue to do that he can be successful.”
Still, some local Republican leaders who have not endorsed either candidate are waiting to see what Stefanik will do — believing that her endorsement may be the only nod that stands to make the biggest difference.
“That will probably mean just as much as the president’s endorsement,” said Saratoga County Republican Chair Joe Suhrada. “In fact I would think Elise Stefanik’s endorsement would mean the most in the district.”
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