Constantino believes he has the right stuff to run in NY-21
PLATTSBURGH — Anthony Constantino is running for the NY-21 Congressional seat because he wants the 'best possible people in government.'
'I just like solving problems,' Constantino told the Press-Republican in a recent sit-down interview.
'I said (to myself) I'd be able to solve much bigger problems in this role and I'd … be one of the more talented people that'd be available for the job.'
Constantino, 42, is a Republican from Amsterdam. He's the CEO of StickerMule there, a distributing company of 1,200 employees and growing. He is hoping the Republican Committee chooses him as the nominee for the NY-21 Special Election when it eventually occurs.
The NY-21 seat is being vacated by long-time Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who was nominated by President Donald Trump for the role of United Nations Ambassador. The Senate is expected to vote on her confirmation this week.
If confirmed, Stefanik will resign as congresswoman and Gov. Kathy Hochul will have 10 days to declare a special election. As the current law states, that election must happen within 70 to 80 days after that.
'READY FOR WHATEVER'
But it could be delayed until the date of a primary in late June.
'I'm ready for whatever, and I'm already putting every bit of infrastructure in place to effectively campaign once I get the nomination,' Constantino said.
'I already started running ads in the district.'
Constantino said if nominated and then elected, the experience of running StickerMule will undoubtedly help him learn how to manage the NY-21's large geographical size, which includes Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Hamilton, Essex, Warren, Washington, Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Schoharie and parts of Jefferson, Rensselaer and Otsego Counties.
'I know how to build massive, distributed organizations, and I think I can get the district connected and working together as a team very effectively so that people are made aware of issues more effectively, and issues are addressed more effectively,' he said.
'The way the district communicates right now is not so effective — it could be a lot better. But I have a massive organization, it's spread out all over the place and I know how to get a large organization that's distributed, working together effectively and different people being heard, which is something we need in this district … There's different problems (everywhere) and everybody needs to be heard.'
An example of this already, he said, is that he services millions of customers at StickerMule, gets 5,000 to 10,000 emails a day and each one gets answered.
'I'm actually really excited about the aspect of servicing the constituents, giving them a way to get in touch with me effectively, and getting them effective responses,' he said.
'I know how to do that at scale, through my business, and I want to bring that skill set to the district. Obviously, I want to make the case that people can get more done remotely than face to face. The district's so big …'
If elected to the seat being vacated by Stefanik, he said he will do his best to work with the president to get stuff done for the North Country.
BORDER SECURITY
He said one of the biggest issues facing the district is the Northern border and ensuring it's secure. He said he will be NY-21's biggest advocate.
'Border security doesn't just protect the United States of America. It's protecting the immigrants as well. What Democrats are doing with regards to open borders, it's cruel all around. It's hurting America, because on the Northern border, we have people coming to bring terrorism and drugs and crime,' Constantino said.
'It's hurting America, but it's also hurting these immigrants that they buy these plane tickets, they save up all their money, and they buy these plane tickets and they cross and some of them freeze to death, and they end up dead in people's backyards, and that's very cruel. It needs to stop. and I don't think anyone will be better than me about advocating to put an end to that, working with the president on that issue and making people aware it's bad all around.'
INTERNET ACCESS
Increasing cell service and internet in the most rural areas of the district will also be a top priority for Constantino.
'I built an incredible company because I had access to the internet … You can build massive companies from anywhere in the world now if you have an internet connection. But in order to enjoy the internet economy, you need an internet connection,' he said.
'And in far too many parts of the district, we don't have high speed internet. You need not just internet, you need fast internet. So we need to bring high speed internet to the district and also cell service … I've experienced it myself. My phone drops all the time and somebody said to me that it's a safety issue. I said: well, it is a safety issue, because you can't call 911, but it's also an economic issue because you can't conduct your business if the calls are dropping.'
TRUMP SUPPORTER
Constantino is also a staunch supporter of President Trump and held several rallies in support of him leading up to the 2024 Election. He said he flipped many Democratic votes into Republican votes during those events.
He said during that process, he effectively marketed Trump's campaign and knows he can market himself better than any other candidate could as well. Constantino said he has 'finite resources' to campaign.
This is part of the reason why he believes the Republican county chairs will choose him as the nominee.
'In my short amount of time in politics, I'm already outperforming … I also put $2.6 million in my campaign account — my own money,' he said.
'No one else put up money like I put up money — $2.6 (million) is a big number — and I want to use all my talent and resources to help steer New York in the right direction, to help build the Republican Party. I think in the event I get this seat, we're going to be able to do something really incredible. I think things are going to change really quickly and … I'm going to bring a lot of organization and excitement to the Republican Party … I'm going to build a massive organization that's going to help the party not only maintain this seat, but win other seats.'
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