Anthony Constantino is just not the candidate native Republican Celebration officers would have picked in New York’s far-upstate twenty first District. The proprietor of the merch-production firm Sticker Mule loves Donald Trump — a prerequisite for the Home GOP right now — however is untested on the marketing campaign path. 4 years in the past, Constantino made his professional debut as a welterweight boxer in Mexico Metropolis, profitable his first battle after getting into the game on the age of 40. “There’s a criticism of individuals profitable within the enterprise world that they get fortunate, and there’s extra admiration for boxers,” he tells me. “So I used to be like, Properly, if I may be good at this too, perhaps it’s not luck.” He’s not as polished as most elder millennials working for Congress, talking hurriedly and favoring tight ripped denims in a lot of his marketing campaign movies. He says that when Roger Stone, an early and unofficial adviser, first noticed them, he requested, “Are you making an attempt to fucking lose?”
“It’s the largest ongoing battle that we’ve,” Stone tells me. “I simply need him to decorate like a congressman.”
One other indicator of Constantino’s outsider standing is the bizarre firm he retains. Two weeks earlier than the first, I spoke with Constantino at a golf-course nation membership he rented out about ten miles south of Lake George. We peeled away from the small crowd to speak in an empty ballroom — adopted by a marketing campaign volunteer carrying black Asics with striped black socks, camo shorts, a black sleeveless compression shirt, and a brown-and-beige fedora who caught the interview on-camera. That day, I additionally bumped into Sticker Mule’s advertising guru, a person who goes by Greatness. He’s straightforward to search out. Greatness normally wears a Sticker Mule gold chain and has two tattoos on his face that say “Greatness.”
Over the previous few months, Greatness has been selling Sticker Mule with a viral marketing campaign by which he goes to cities throughout the nation, rubs child oil throughout a watermelon, after which throws it within the air for a contestant to catch. In the event that they don’t drop it, they get just a few hundred {dollars}. “I’m within the hood close to you throwing watermelons!” he raps in a tune concerning the problem. Greatness, who’s from Tampa, has been selling the Constantino marketing campaign in movies on-line. However he says he’s in upstate New York in an unofficial capability to present him “constructive encouragement as a good friend.”
Constantino and Greatness met on Instagram and first linked final yr to document a rap album in Florida referred to as Thank You President Trump. It was recorded when Zohran Mamdani was working for New York Metropolis mayor, they usually noticed a possibility for a topical diss observe. “Mamdani is working in an city neighborhood the place folks hearken to rap,” Constantino says, hoping that he might educate “folks about these subjects.” All through the tune, which made it onto WorldstarHipHop, he accuses the town’s first Muslim mayor of being a terrorist: “Terrorists aren’t flying planes into buildings anymore, they’re coming at us completely different.”
The native GOP won’t love these extracurriculars from a candidate working within the district to exchange Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking Home Republican from 2021 till 2025, who introduced she wouldn’t search reelection within the +24 crimson seat. However they aren’t making the election-defining endorsements within the celebration right now. President Donald Trump is. Thus far this yr, each considered one of his 155 Home endorsements have gained their major. And due to Constantino’s loud help of the president, he gained Trump’s co-sign in April.
Constantino wasn’t all that centered on politics till the president was shot within the ear on July 13, 2024. Two days later, he despatched out an e mail to Sticker Mule clients: “Persons are terrified to confess they help Trump. I’ve been scared myself. People shouldn’t stay in concern. I help Trump … BTW, this week, get 1 shirt for $4 (usually $19).” Outing himself as a Republican infuriated many Sticker Mule clients, a few of whom boycotted Constantino’s firm for backing Trump. That fall, he paid $90,000 for the 100-foot “Vote for Trump” signal on high of his manufacturing facility within the upstate city of Amsterdam. The native mayor tried and failed to dam Constantino from placing up the signal, which is seen from the close by freeway, a battle that attracted nationwide consideration.
Throughout the flurry of press, Constantino DM’d Stone on X for recommendation. “He’s acquired an infinite quantity of vitality, he’s acquired an unimaginable sense of honor,” says the longtime and controversial GOP operative. Stone then invited Constantino to his house in Fort Lauderdale, the place they mentioned the potential for a congressional run. Stone says he advocated “instantly” with President Trump for an endorsement. “It was primarily based largely on the truth that the president preferred that Anthony put the signal on high of his manufacturing facility,” he says. Constantino and Trump met in Florida on April 12; ten days later, he earned the Trump endorsement. “HE IS A GREAT GUY WHO WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” the president wrote on Reality Social. In June, Trump even posted considered one of Constantino’s rap movies made with Greatness, an AI fantasia of the president animated as Naruto and touring the world, the place all people loves Donald Trump.
If Constantino represents the Trump Republican mannequin — with a enterprise background and a wild digital footprint — his opponent within the race, Robert Smullen, is from a extra conventional mildew. Smullen has served within the State Meeting since 2019 and did three fight excursions in Afghanistan after 9/11. Smullen has the endorsement of the New York State Troopers, the Teamsters, the NRA, and the Chamber of Commerce. He’s the candidate that the GOP Institution is pulling for, with endorsements from the Republican committees of all 15 counties spanning the twenty first District. He has the high-and-tight haircut of a marine, and for our interview, the normal candidate selected a conventional setting: a red-boothed silver diner not removed from his workplace within the New York State Capitol. He speaks usually of being a “steward chief” and tells me that this race is “concerning the voice, the values that we take to Washington, D.C.”
Smullen, 57, had simply recorded a solo interview with an Albany TV channel that was initially scheduled to be a debate with Constantino. Constantino declined the supply after the primary and solely debate in late Could, by which the 2 didn’t shake palms. Major battles can get contentious when candidates share comparable opinions: Each Constantino and Smullen help the president, his $1.8 billion weaponization fund, and a hard-line immigration agenda backed by ICE crackdowns. The acrimonious nature of this race within the stunning twenty first — house to the Adirondack Park, hundreds of pristine lakes, and practically a 3rd of the state’s complete land mass — has stemmed not from coverage disputes however deeply private ones.
“He’s a pathological liar; his entire race is predicated on lies,” says Constantino. He claims Smullen has been deceiving voters on his help of Trump (unwavering), his taxes (absolutely paid), and promoting anti-Trump and pro-choice stickers made by his firm (he doesn’t select what merch folks promote).
“I had very type emotions towards him for a really very long time,” Constantino says. However that modified when Smullen challenged him for the Home seat. In January, Constantino mentioned in a video that “Robert Smullen is a fucking coward” for not endorsing the president in 2024. (Smullen says he has endorsed Trump in all his presidential races and was current at each inaugurations.) In late Could, as the 2 had been getting ready to debate on the CBS affiliate in Albany, Constantino texted him: “You’re a actually evil individual that I need to shield America from.” The controversy itself was pretty cordial: The 2 agreed on most insurance policies, and Constantino thanked Smullen for his service. However afterward, Smullen refused to shake his opponent’s hand.
“He referred to as me a fucking coward — is that someone’s hand you’re gonna shake?” Smullen asks me.
The opposite purpose Smullen didn’t shake his opponent’s hand is said to posts on Fb from Constantino’s allies regarding Smullen’s son, AJ. In 2024, the 14-year-old was killed in a suburb of Schenectady. “He was hit by a automotive, taking part in along with his buddies,” Smullen says. “He mentioned that I used to be utilizing my, quote, lifeless son as a political prop. That’s fully past the pale. So I’m standing as much as him. I’m standing as much as a bully in ripped skinny denims.”
“He didn’t shake my hand as a result of I spoke ailing of his son, which, I by no means even spoke of his son,” says Constantino. “However I imply, how dangerous, how low are you able to get as a human being to only make up so many weird lies?”
Smullen insists that his opponent is “mentally unfit” for public service, citing previous allegations about Constantino. Politico reported in March {that a} staffer employed to gather signatures was arrested in 2014 for forging signatures for a decide race within the Glen Falls space. In Could, the Albany Instances-Union reported that the Constantino marketing campaign employed an accused assassin out on bail for a low-level place. (The marketing campaign says the staffers had been dismissed once they discovered.) The present comms particular person for each Sticker Mule and the marketing campaign was charged in 2020 for grand larceny for allegedly stealing $3,000 from the Amsterdam Cal Ripken Baseball League, of which he served as president; he later pleaded to petit larceny, a misdemeanor. (When Smullen introduced up the allegations surrounding his son and the baseball theft, Constantino threatened to sue him for defamation.) There may be additionally a 2015 lawsuit from a former Sticker Mule worker who claims she reported her supervisor’s fixed sexual harassment. When Constantino was knowledgeable of the alleged habits, he mentioned the offender was only a “sexy bastard,” per the swimsuit. After reporting the habits, the worker claims she was laid off. The case was ultimately settled out of courtroom.
With years price of promo movies recorded for Sticker Mule, there could also be some content material that turns off conservative voters. Final summer time, Constantino recorded one with Ricky Berwick, an influencer with a uncommon connective tissue dysfunction who makes use of a wheelchair. Berwick is within the manufacturing facility, inspecting a printing of orange stickers they referred to as “R-word passes” that say “I’ve the permission to say ‘Retard.’” Constantino tells Berwick that his concept is “retarted.”
“You possibly can’t say that!” Berwick says.
“Sure, I can, you gave me the go,” Constantino replies, pulling the orange sticker from his pocket like an ace up his sleeve.
One of many strangest points of this race is that, one week out, it’s very troublesome to know who’s going to win — the warrior-lawmaker recovering from a household tragedy or the rapping boxer with the Trump endorsement printing “R-word go” stickers. Each candidates say that their inner polling reveals them profitable, and no unbiased polls have been issued within the twenty first. For what it’s price, Kalshi and Polymarket have roughly four-to-one odds in favor of Constantino. However there’s a clear spending benefit. FEC filings present that Smullen has loaned himself $1 million for the race, plus one other $300,000 introduced in from fundraising. Constantino, in the meantime, has loaned himself $10 million — a testomony to how a lot cash his upstate sticker empire brings in. One other testomony: Constantino’s watch, a Cartier, prices about the identical as Smullen’s automotive, a Ford Focus he informed me he bought on a lease buyout.
There’s a downside for the GOP on this major regardless of who wins on Tuesday. New York is without doubt one of the few states that permit a politician to just accept the nomination of multiple celebration, and Constantino and Smullen might each seem on the poll in November beneath the Taxpayer Rights Celebration and the Conservative Celebration line. Smullen says he’s assured he’ll win; Constantino says he’s assured Smullen will drop out of the overall when he loses. If each candidates keep in, there’s the potential for a MAGA vote-split within the deep-red district, creating a possible path to victory for a Democrat. It’s not only a hypothetical: A Democrat gained the district in a comparable situation in 2009.
Within the nationwide press, Constantino is gaining a fame as an unorthodox politician who would instantly turn out to be a important character in Congress. However in his house district, he has a fame as one thing of an area Rockefeller. Sticker Mule employs round 1,000 folks in Amsterdam, a rust-belt metropolis on the Mohawk River that noticed its greatest days again when the Erie Canal was an financial powerhouse. Down the street from his manufacturing facility, he operates a $29-per-month health club, Mule Health, at what he says is a loss. He has purchased an area MMA league referred to as Cage Wars — providing free admission — and donated $100,000 to his metropolis to repair up the park behind his health club. At a close-by Catholic grade faculty, there’s a scholarship in his identify; the Albany Instances-Union studies that he has already pledged $80,000 per yr for 16 college students in elementary faculty and can pay their method by eighth grade. The college says it’s accepting purposes for a complete of 100 Constantino-funded scholarships with half of these going to Sticker Mule staff. He has additionally been fairly beneficiant to the president, putting the large “Vote for Trump” signal on his manufacturing facility and donating a bronze statue of the president to the Trump Worldwide Golf Course in Florida. He as soon as proposed plans to the town of Amsterdam to construct a Trump theme park on his property, a $1 million proposal that bumped into some zoning points.
Throughout our assembly on the golf course, his generosity was on full show for his few dozen supporters in attendance. There was a carving station of prime rib, chafing dishes of penne alla vodka, tortellini Alfredo, garlic-butter steamed clams, eggplant Parm, hen picatta, salmon in Champagne cream sauce, rice pilaf, roasted potatoes, roasted greens, a desk filled with Champagne, and, for good measure, a pair hours of an open bar. Standing over a cocktail desk draped in white fabric, Constantino informed me he likes to “give again.” The occasion that day was to announce that he would give his $174,000 congressional wage to a veteran in his district wounded in Iraq — even when he didn’t win.
“Time is finite,” he says. “It’s like considered one of my rules in life, okay? You wish to use it in the easiest way attainable, and it’s one of the best use of my time to make the world a greater place.” Or no less than a greater place for anybody not named Smullen.
