Trump-backed Anthony Constantino wins GOP primary in New York House race

Anthony Constantino, the Trump-endorsed Sticker Mule chief executive, defeated Assemblyman Robert Smullen in the Republican primary for New York’s 21st Congressional District, a race that became a direct test of how much sway Donald Trump still holds over GOP voters in the North Country. Smullen conceded on election night as Constantino declared victory, and national race callers projected Constantino as the winner as the vote count tightened around the party’s open seat.

The outcome cut through the state party machinery that lined up behind Smullen. The Assemblyman had the backing of the New York State Republican Party, the Conservative Party of New York State and 12 of the district’s 15 county Republican committees, a show of institutional support that still could not overcome Trump’s endorsement of Constantino. In a district that stretches across a huge swath of upstate New York, the primary exposed how local endorsements and county control can matter less when a contest is framed as a loyalty test to Trump.

Constantino, 43, is not a conventional party figure. He founded Sticker Mule in Amsterdam, New York, in 2010 and built a profile far beyond the business world by embracing Trump publicly and aggressively. His support for the former president has included a large pro-Trump sign on his Sticker Mule building visible from the New York State Thruway, a hip-hop album titled Thank you President Trump and a bronze statue he gave Trump. That mix of business branding, political theater and personal allegiance helped define the outsider image that carried him through the primary.

Smullen represented the other side of the GOP divide: a more traditional candidate backed by party leaders and local committees. The contest for the seat opened after Elise Stefanik, the region’s former congresswoman, abandoned a gubernatorial bid and chose not to seek another House term. That left Republicans fighting over who could inherit a district where Trump’s preferred candidate now appears to have outrun the establishment wing.

The race was bitter and fractured, with relatively low visible campaign signage in parts of the district, underscoring how much of the fight played out inside the party rather than in a broad general-election style campaign. Constantino’s win suggests that in parts of the Republican base, especially in the North Country, the most valuable credential is not a county endorsement or a party stamp of approval but public loyalty to Trump himself.