The Pilot, the Printer and the Prison Guard
What's at stake in a coming special election in Northern New York
A special election in a congressional district along the Canadian border looms as an early test of Democrats’ plans for escaping the political wilderness, I wrote Sunday in The Wall Street Journal.
Democratic leaders are trying to recruit state Assembly member and former corrections officer D. Billy Jones. They hope his working-class background will resonate in the mostly rural district. Some unsuccessful past candidates for the seat had looser local ties and wealthier backgrounds.
“Somebody indigenous to the area actually has an advantage because they would understand the challenges because they’ve lived it—as opposed to someone who parachutes in,” said Lynne Boecher, a Democratic leader from Warren County.
Boecher acknowledged that the 15 counties of NY-21, which covers the Adirondack Park and stretches south to Schoharie County, are Republican territory. Republicans have held the congressional seat since the Civil War, with the exception of five years ending with the 2014 election of Elise Stefanik.
She’s been picked by Donald Trump to be his ambassador to the United Nations, and is expected to resign from Congress when she’s confirmed next year. State law requires Gov. Kathy Hochul to call a special election within roughly 90 days. There aren’t party primaries, but rather, local leaders pick their standard bearers — with some input from state and national figures.
Every Democrat I spoke to said they believed Jones was their strongest horse. But … will he do it? The assemblyman told me in an interview that he’s considering it, and also faulted his party for not listening in the recent presidential election to voters’ concerns about the economy.
“The secret is to talk to people instead of talking at them,” Jones said. “People did not feel the economy was going well. You can’t make people feel something if they’re not feeling it.”
Other potential Democratic candidates include Blake Gendebien, a dairy farmer, and Paula Collins, a lawyer who settled in the district earlier this year. She lost to Stefanik by more than 20 points in November.
There is more jockeying for the Republican nomination. Local party leaders met in December at a VFW Hall to talk about their procedures. “I’m getting 20 calls a day about this,” said Joe Suhrada, Republican chairman in Saratoga County.
At this point, there isn’t much debate about whether the candidate will be in the Trump wing of the party (or whatever the non-Trump wing part of the party is called). But it’s up in the air whether the candidate will have previously served in local office, or be an outsider. And whether that person will get the nod by winning over the hearts of the people who gathered in Queensbury or the crowd at Mar-a-Lago.
The contenders include two other state lawmakers, Chris Tague of Schoharie County and Dan Stec of Warren County, as well as Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, a former pilot.
Republican leaders said McLaughlin was attractive in part because he successfully defended himself against criminal charges of misusing campaign funds brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who also brought civil cases against Trump. McLaughlin has criticized James’s handling of the Trump case.
McLaughlin said in an interview that he has a broader record, including rehabilitating county facilities and standing up to Covid-related mandates by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Tague has been a Trump supporter since he joined a group of people who tried to convince the former developer to run for governor in 2014. Several Republicans griped that Stec waffled on endorsing Trump in 2016; Stec said he voted for Trump three times and called the attacks “noise.”
And then there’s Anthony Constantino, a 42-year-old political neophyte who runs an Internet printing company in Amsterdam. He gained attention earlier this year for placing a large “Vote for Trump” sign on the roof of one of his company’s buildings and winning a court case against city officials who sought to have it removed.
Constantino, who spent time as a boxer in Mexico City, said he wasn’t familiar with the details of issues including the pending debate about reauthorization of the 2017 federal tax law. But he’s been to Mar-a-Lago, and he’s working with Roger Stone.
There’s history in this district, which includes parts of the old 20th and 23rd districts. Both of them were the site of special elections in 2009 that were won by Democrats — the last froth of a Democratic wave that propelled Barack Obama in to office in 2008.
Democratic nominee Bill Owens (who at the time wasn’t actually a Democrat) was able to eke out a win after Republicans settled on moderate Dede Scozzafava, who ended up backing Owens, and Conservatives put up Doug Hoffman, an accountant. Hoffman was one of the worst political communicators I’ve ever encountered, but he gained national support and he was at the leading edge of the Tea Party movement, as I reported at the time for the New York Observer.
So anything can happen. Special elections are always special, as several people told me while reporting on this. But since they happen at odd times, they become little microcosms of the national zeitgeist and can show what is and isn’t working for both parties.
“This race will be a referendum on President Trump’s first 100 days,” Republican consultant Vince Casale told me. “Everybody in the country is going to be watching.”
THE QUESTION: RIP Jimmy Carter. While in the Navy, he was assigned to Upstate New York. Where did he live and what did he do?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: In a way, it’s unfair to say whether Duff’s or Anchor Bar have better wings. Both offer exquisite variations on one of my favorite dishes. And kudos to the many readers who mentioned Bar Bill, Gabriel’s Gate and other favorite spots.
But in another, more accurate, way, the answer is that Duff’s has the best wings.