It’s hard to say what it is about Anthony Constantino, the sticker tycoon running for Congress, that has inflamed his fellow New York Republicans to the point that they are willing to defy President Trump.
Could it be Mr. Constantino’s alliance with Roger Stone, the conservative operative known for unsavory political tactics?
Or Mr. Constantino’s motley crew of aides, one of whom pleaded guilty to harassment after being accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl and another who faces murder charges in Nevada?
Perhaps it’s the vicious personal attacks he has made against his opponents across the political spectrum, or the overt ways he has curried favor with the president. (The latest example: releasing a hip-hop album entitled “Thank You President Trump.”)
Whatever it is, Mr. Constantino could not care less.
“The New York G.O.P. is a nonperforming organization,” he said in a wide-ranging interview, noting that Republicans had not won a statewide race in two decades. “They’re content with losing.”
“Donald Trump,” he added, “went through the same thing.”
Mr. Constantino, 43, hopes to succeed Elise Stefanik, a Trump loyalist who is stepping down after representing New York’s 21st Congressional District for a decade. The district, which stretches from the edge of the Catskills north to the Canadian border, is the state’s largest and most rural. In deep blue New York, this is Trump country — indeed, the president won the district by 24 points in 2024.
On major issues like the economy, immigration and the war in Iran, Mr. Constantino and his primary opponent, Assemblyman Robert Smullen, both largely echo the president’s positions. The contest may well be decided by other factors.
Mr. Constantino, whose company Sticker Mule makes novelty T-shirts, stickers and other items, has no political experience. What he does have is a full-throated endorsement from Mr. Trump, who last month called him “A GREAT GUY WHO WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.”
The feeling is mutual. In October 2024, Mr. Constantino erected a 12-foot-high, 100-foot-wide “VOTE FOR TRUMP” sign atop his company’s headquarters in Amsterdam, N.Y., to show his support after Mr. Trump survived an assassination attempt while running for another term.
Mr. Constantino said that he received a call from the former president’s team not long after the sign went up. Mr. Trump was ecstatic, he was told, exclaiming, “This guy did a sign for me!”
“He’s like, reading The New York Times,” Mr. Constantino said. “And the next thing he sees is this ‘Vote for Trump’ sign, and he goes nuts, like, ripping it out.”
But while Mr. Constantino may have won the president’s approval, his unorthodox style and the millions of dollars he has pledged to spend on his campaign have enraged Republican and conservative leaders in New York, who see him as an interloper threatening Mr. Smullen, a strait-laced former Marine who is their preferred candidate.
The Trump endorsement came roughly a month after the state party backed Mr. Smullen — a decision based on the input of more than a dozen local committees. The choice put the state party on the wrong side of a president who has demanded absolute loyalty. Even so, the party has not changed its position.
Over eggs at an Albany diner earlier this month, Mr. Smullen, a state assemblyman, said that his previous work in national security made clear that he was the best man for the job.
Pointing to Mr. Constantino’s behavior at public events and on social media, Mr. Smullen argued that his opponent lacked the composure to serve.
“It’s a duty and it’s an honor all at the same time to be able to represent the people,” said Mr. Smullen, who served three combat tours in Afghanistan and worked in the administration of President George W. Bush. “It’s not some reality TV show sort of thing.”
The primary will pose another test of Mr. Trump’s power to shape the Republican Party in New York — as he did in Kentucky and Georgia, where his chosen candidates won in recent primaries — even as his popularity dips nationwide.
Another influential voice in the district belongs to Ms. Stefanik, who has maintained deep support with North Country voters throughout her many political upheavals — most recently a short-lived run for governor. But Ms. Stefanik has so far declined to back a successor.
Even so, several gestures — such as a photo at a book-signing event — suggest she is friendly with Mr. Constantino, a former high school classmate. Ms. Stefanik declined a request for an interview.
State Republican leaders have been far less reluctant to take sides. The state party has gone all out to support Mr. Smullen, distributing glossy mailers urging voters to “join New York’s top Republican leaders in supporting Robert Smullen” in the June 23 primary.
The state Conservative Party also supports Mr. Smullen, ensuring he will be on the November ballot even if Mr. Constantino wins the Republican nomination. Some Republicans fear that a split vote could create a situation similar to 2009, when an intraparty rift helped elect a Democrat, Bill Owens. A handful of Democrats have vied for their party’s nomination, including Blake Gendebien, a dairy farmer, and Stuart Amoriell, a restaurant owner in Lake Placid.
Any Democratic candidate faces an uphill climb in the 21st District, which is one of the reddest districts in the state. Even so, some Democrats are hoping that voter discontent with Republicans and Mr. Trump, combined with a potential split ticket in November, could provide an opening.
Gerard Kassar, the chairman of the Conservative Party, acknowledged the risk. In the 2009 election, he said, “we probably did play a role in electing the Democrat.”
Mr. Smullen could always decline the Conservative ballot line, but he says he has little interest in doing so — and Mr. Kassar has little interest in pushing him.
“At that point,” the chairman said, “Constantino would have to deal with that reality.”
Indeed, Mr. Kassar’s issues with Mr. Constantino are more personal.
In 2024, Mr. Constantino reached out to Mr. Kassar about running in a special election to replace Ms. Stefanik, who at the time was expected to step down to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
In the call, which Mr. Constantino recorded and posted on social media, Mr. Kassar recited a litany of what he saw as Mr. Constantino’s missteps, from previously registering as a Democrat to vowing to spend $2 million of his own money on a race that could be won with $250,000. But the chief problem appeared to be Mr. Constantino’s public declaration that, regardless of the special election result, he planned to run in November.
“Telling us that you are going to run in November is just a bigger reason why we’d have to kill you,” Mr. Kassar explains on the recording, framing the criticism as advice. The call ended with the men agreeing to stay in touch about the endorsement process.
A few days later, however, Mr. Constantino called a news conference to accuse Mr. Kassar of trying to follow through on a death threat, saying that the brake lines had been cut in one of his aides’ vehicles.
Mr. Kassar said he had been speaking figuratively, and sued Mr. Constantino for defamation. As the case continues, Mr. Constantino has persisted in attacking Mr. Kassar in personal terms, deriding his weight and vowing retribution.
Mr. Constantino seems to take pleasure in riling his opponents — essentially the entire New York political establishment — with a now-familiar toolbox of derogatory names and digitally altered pictures.
Mr. Constantino is unapologetic about his tactics. In an interview, he presented the unshakable confidence of a man who has built a business from the ground up. He was happy to talk for hours about developing his company into a multimillion-dollar operation in his hometown, and his journey to politics — a story punctuated by instances of him firing people who had disrespected him.
“In business, if I don’t like you I can get rid of you,” he said. “You disappear.” But politics was different, he was learning.
“Political people don’t disappear,” he said, with a sigh.
As for Mr. Constantino’s hiring choices, he said he believed in giving people second chances, and pointed out that Mr. Smullen was once accused of felony tax evasion. (Mr. Smullen later pleaded guilty to a violation).
“One in three adults in the United States of America have an arrest record,” Mr. Constantino said. “It’s the job of the criminal justice system to reprimand and reform people who have been arrested. It’s not for employers to further punish people beyond what the justice system deems appropriate.”
The real crime, Mr. Constantino said, was the failure of the state Republican leadership to follow the president’s lead and support him.
“It’s disappointing,” he said, “that these lower-level Republicans didn’t do the right thing for their country.”
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
Grace Ashford covers New York government and politics for The Times.
The post C.E.O. Behind Huge ‘Vote for Trump’ Sign Has a New Slogan: Vote for Him appeared first on New York Times.
