Trump pick could fumble Stefanik's seat for GOP

Daily Point

Trump hurls a Stone at NY Republicans

Top New York State Republican and Conservative Party leaders are firmly standing behind their preferred candidate, Assemb. Robert Smullen, in his bid to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 21st Congressional District upstate. This is a rare instance of putative MAGA backers disregarding President Donald Trump's support, in this case of controversial businessman Anthony Constantino for the North Country seat.

Among Smullen's backers are downstate Republican House members Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino of Long Island, along with Mike Lawler who represents the northern suburbs and Nicole Malliotakis of New York City. Upstate, the group includes Reps. Claudia Tenney and Nick Langworthy. Garbarino is a former Assembly colleague of the candidate.

That means the full GOP House delegation supports Smullen except, curiously, for Stefanik herself, who has not taken sides in next month's primary. "Elise is staying neutral for her own reasons," a GOP source told The Point.

On April 29 a "Smullen For Congress" fundraiser was held at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington with most delegation members, ex-Reps. John Faso and Marc Molinaro, and Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar, a key Smullen backer.

Eight days before the fete, however, Trump posted that Costantino "has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from New York's 21st Congressional District — HE IS A GREAT GUY WHO WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"

By all accounts, Trump adviser Roger Stone reportedly played a key role in getting Constantino the endorsement. Federal Election Commission records show Constantino's campaign reporting $10,000 payments to Stone's company Drake Ventures for "strategic consulting" on at least four occasions since late 2024, when it was first expected that Stefanik would vacate the seat.

For those who just tuned in: Stone was convicted in 2019 on seven felony counts, including obstructing a congressional investigation and witness related to a federal probe of the 2016 election. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison, which Trump commuted in 2020.

Stone, a self-described master of dirty political tricks, was a key figure in the "Stop the Steal" protests leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Stone was provided with security by the extreme-right Oath Keepers. He worked to impugn the reputation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer long before the prostitution scandal over which Spitzer resigned.

Constantino is the president of Amsterdam, New York-based Sticker Mule, which sells custom stickers and magnets, and attracted public attention with a giant sign atop the company building touting Trump. One campaign aide has been out on bail since 2023 on a homicide charge in Nevada. Another Constantino political aide was president of the Amsterdam Cal Ripken Baseball League in 2020 when charged with grand larceny after authorities said he embezzled from it. The resolution of that case is unclear from subsequent published reports.

One early flash point with Costantino occurred when a special election was expected for the seat last year. Stefanik was nominated for United Nations ambassador. If another Republican won the special, Kassar warned Constantino not to oppose that incumbent in the November general or he'd be destroyed or "killed." Kassar says this meant politically. But Constantino recorded the exchange and publicly accused Kassar of threatening to literally murder him. For that, Kassar sent him a cease-and-desist letter charging defamation.

Stefanik's U.N. nomination was withdrawn, and she remains in her congressional seat until the end of this year. Meantime, Smullen calls Constantino — who has loaned his campaign $7.6 million — "mentally unfit" for the job.

The Conservative Party has a unique role in the current race. Smullen will be on its line in November. If Constantino wins the Republican primary, the Democrats would face a split opposition — giving them a chance to flip a deep-red seat from Republicans. Several Democrats have been vying for that nomination as well.

One Republican loyalist gently told the Point what he thought of Trump's meddling in a local nomination: "The president has many other things to deal with."

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

Pencil Point

What on Earth?

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Quick Points

'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?'

• The federal government released the long-promised UFO files last week, and President Donald Trump inquired gently: "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" on his social media platform. Newsday appeared in the files, for a blurb about a 1947 sighting that sparked an FBI probe. Long Island has a long association with peculiarities, from the Montauk Project to the Hardy Boys to Plum Island, and a 2023 Newsday story stated that Suffolk County led the state with 554 UFO sightings. So, when the files were finally released, the feeling among many Long Islanders was, "BTDTGTTS."
• Speaking of oddities, Bigfoot sightings in Ohio have spiked. Guess the big hairy fella was afraid of being lost in the plot.
• Reps. Nick LaLota and Tom Suozzi are pushing for a 50-mile trail to honor a network of American spies during the Revolutionary War. Dubbed the Culper Spy Ring, the cloak-and-dagger crew fed George Washington the deets on British troop movements around Long Island and Manhattan. A map of the trail along the North Shore showcasing spots used by the spies will be available but will self-destruct in five seconds.
• New York State budget negotiations are going better than Iran war talks, which isn't saying much. A supposed agreement was announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul and promptly decried by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who said there was no deal. "And I'm saying this to y'all very clearly: I am never doing this again. Budgets are supposed to be about money, not policy." A day later Heastie clarified, "My concern was more of the process. And I do think we're very close on a budget, and I expect that we'll get it done in short order." Even on Monday, reports made a finalized budget seem further away. Clear as Albany mud.

— Mark Nolan mark.nolan@newsday.com

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