11-04-2025
Gendebien touts cross-party appeal
PLATTSBURGH — A gravel road is what Blake Gendebien told the crowd to picture.
'If you get into the shoulder on this side, you're going into the ditch; if you get into the shoulder on that side, you're going into the ditch. But if you stay in the center of this narrow road, you get to where you're going,' he explained.
That roadway was the one Gendebien, a St. Lawrence County dairy farmer, hoped to ride all the way to Congress, he told the crowd gathered in Plattsburgh's Strand Theater during a Town Hall event Tuesday night.
SPECIAL ELECTION POSTPONED
In February, Gendebien was named the Democratic Party nominee tapped to run for the 21st Congressional District seat in a special election to be held if North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik had been confirmed as President Donald Trump's United Nations ambassador.
But Stefanik's nomination for that post was withdrawn on March 27, leaving her as the NY-21 representative for now and seemingly stretching the electoral calendar back to the 2026 midterm elections.
But Gendebien said Tuesday night that his campaign was still in the game and would press forward, whether toward the midterms or any other special election that might be called.
Defending his chances, Gendebien pointed to the withdrawal of Stefanik's nomination to the UN post as evidence that Republicans feared a GOP candidate would lose the NY-21 special election to him.
'That's proof that we're never wrong to focus on what's right for the North Country,' he said. 'The chairs, who I'm very grateful for, selected a very moderate, pragmatic candidate in myself.'
'A MODERATE LEADER'
Along with pledging his support for a range of local causes — from access to healthcare, support of the arts and addressing the housing shortage — Gendebien frequently emphasized his ability as a moderate to draw voters across party lines.
'I'm not going to apologize for being a moderate leader, I'm not going to apologize for wanting to work on things that we can actually get done, and that's the secret to winning rural America back,' he said.
To that point, Gendebien repeatedly pointed to positions he held that he argued anyone, regardless of party affiliation, should back him for.
'Since when is taking care of our seniors, taking care of our veterans, supporting small business, solving immigration and making sure that everyone can afford to put a meal on their table a divisive issue?'
SACKETS HARBOR INCIDENT
When asked how he could expand the accommodating model for migrant workers at Peru apple orchards to fit farms across the district, Gendebien pointed to the need for the creation of a longer-term variant to the H-2A visa for agricultural workers who work with livestock.
'Livestock needs a program where someone could work for years, because by the time four to six months goes by, they basically just learn how to work around a dairy cow. It's not that simple, you know?'
Gendebien also called the recent detainment by immigration officers of a mother and children from a Sackets Harbor farm 'inexcusable.'
Gendebien said he knew the farm and that he'd been told that the sight of the children being dragged to the ground and handcuffed had deeply shaken the farmer.
'It was traumatic, not just for the kids, but it was traumatic for everybody on that farm,' Gendebien said.
The Watertown Daily Times reported Monday that the mother and children had been released and were returning home to the community.
CROSS-PARTY APPEAL
At the same time, Gendebien pointed to that incident in arguing how anyone appalled by that scene — regardless of party — should back his campaign.
'We are not going to make anybody feel bad for previously voting for Trump. When they see those things, they need a new home, and that new home is going to be right here with this campaign,' he said.
In threading that needle, Gendebien also spoke of his support for border and immigration agencies.
'Secure the border? Yes, I think we need to do it by adding judges, by making sure that Border Patrol and ICE have the resources they need. They aren't the enemy. These guys are just trying to do their job,' he said. 'My son went to prom with the daughter of an ICE agent.'
IMMIGRATION AND INDUSTRY
At the same time, Gendebien spoke of the necessity of immigrant labor in American industry and agriculture.
Citing 'The Economic Impacts of Immigrant Labor on U.S. Dairy Farms', a 2015 study by Texas A&M, Gendebien noted how the report found:
• Immigrant labor accounted for 51 percent of all dairy labor
• Dairies that employ immigrant labor produced 79 percent of the U.S. milk supply.
Then, speaking from his personal experience as vice chairman of Agri-Mark, Inc, Gendebien explained how the firm struggled to find enough workers for its cheese plant in Cabot, Vt., leading the company to ask Wal-Mart to raise costs on their products to compensate.
'That means everybody in this room paid more for cheese just because there wasn't the labor to package it,' he said. 'We can drive down costs by solving immigration, and let's take that seriously.'
PUSHBACK ON 'MODERATE'
Still, Gendebien's 'moderate' label and appeal to disaffected Trump voters drew concerns from some in attendance.
Martha Swan of Westport, while noting she didn't question Gendebien's values, asked what he meant by his moderate, centrist title.
'Over the last 20, 30-plus years, we have seen the Democratic center move more and more to the right,' Swan said. 'So I don't know what is meant by center.'
In response, Gendebien noted how 'you might be feeling like, geez, if he's in the middle, he could jump over to the other side. and I don't want you to feel that way.'
To that point, a younger attendee at the event raised concerns over Gendebien's commitment to LGBTQ rights, explaining how 'when people in the LGBTQ community hear Democrats say they're going to go down the middle of the road, sometimes they think, 'Oh, I'm on the chopping block.''
The attendee urged Gendebien to attend local Pride events and show his support for that community, drawing a round of applause from the Town Hall crowd for his comments.
Gendebien reaffirmed that his moderate stance did not mean he was not supportive of the LGBTQ community.
'One of the main reasons I'm here is because I don't like bullies. I will stand with anybody—LGBTQ, marginalized, anyone else that feels underrepresented or treated poorly,' he said.
YOUNGER VOTERS
Asked how he would appeal to those younger voters whom statistics show have leaned farther right politically in recent years, Gendebien noted a two-fold plan to meet those young voters where they're at: campaigning heavily at college campuses and appearing on podcasts.
But attendee Terry Powers Phaneuf spoke up after that answer to question firmly if that was enough:
'Don't you think it's more than that, though,' she asked. 'I mean, the young men are looking for someone with charisma to make something untrue attractive.'
Gendebien doubled-down on his plan and said he hoped to share with younger voters 'a normal point of view, a normal perspective, and engage and talk and have those conversations. That's the only place you can start.'
As the night wound down, Gendebien reminded the crowd that he wasn't running to be 'a super genius of the universe,' but a representative who listens, learns, and lives in the district he hopes to serve.
'This is not a vanity project,' he said. 'This is for you. This is for my friends and neighbors. This is for the North Country and making this a better place to live.'
