New York Machine: MAGA Outsider Stuns Party Establishment

Sign reading Vote Here in a polling station.

A Trump-backed businessman just defeated a decorated Marine veteran and the entire New York Republican Party establishment to win the GOP primary for one of the most watched congressional seats in the country — and it wasn’t close.

Story Highlights

Anthony Constantino, founder of Sticker Mule and a first-time candidate, won the NY-21 Republican primary despite being opposed by 12 of 15 county GOP committees and most of the state party.
Constantino carried Trump’s endorsement into a bitter race against State Assemblyman Robert Smullen, a 24-year Marine veteran with deep party backing.
The result fits a pattern: Trump-backed candidates have won or advanced in 37 of 39 recent Republican primaries, though a recent Iowa upset showed his endorsement isn’t a sure thing.
Both sides traded unverified accusations during the campaign, including claims of felony tax fraud, campaign fund misuse, and criminal campaign staff — none of which were backed by court records or official filings.

Trump’s Pick Beats the Party Machine

Anthony Constantino, chief executive of Sticker Mule — a custom-printing company he founded in Amsterdam, New York in 2010 that now employs over 1,000 people worldwide — won the Republican primary for New York’s 21st Congressional District. ^[1] The seat opened when Rep. Elise Stefanik left Congress to serve in the Trump administration. Constantino ran as a political outsider, self-funding his campaign and pledging to donate his entire congressional salary to charity. ^[10]

Constantino’s win came despite fierce opposition from the state Republican Party. His opponent, State Assemblyman Robert Smullen, had the backing of 12 of 15 county GOP committees, the Conservative Party line, and seven Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation. ^[9] Smullen is a Marine veteran with 24 years of service and three combat tours in Afghanistan, appointed by both Presidents George W. Bush and Trump. That kind of résumé usually wins primaries. This time, it wasn’t enough.

A Race Built on Big Claims and Mudslinging

The campaign turned ugly fast. Constantino accused Smullen of being arrested for felony tax fraud, hosting a taxpayer-funded Chinese solar farm, and employing campaign staff with criminal records. Smullen denied all of it, calling the attacks false and defamatory. He said the solar panels on his land were privately funded and Korean-made. ^[9] Neither side produced court records, official filings, or other hard documentation to settle any of these claims.

Smullen fired back with his own attacks. He called Constantino “mentally unfit” for Congress and accused him of trying to buy the seat. He also pointed out that Constantino was a registered Democrat until 2024 — a fact that got significant attention in local media. ^[2] Smullen’s campaign argued that Constantino’s company had sold anti-Trump, anti-police, and pro-transgender stickers, framing him as out of step with conservative values. Constantino disputed those characterizations.

What This Says About the GOP Right Now

This race is a clear example of a fight playing out in Republican primaries across the country: Trump loyalists versus party insiders. Trump-backed candidates won or advanced in 37 Republican primary races in a recent wave of contests. ^[20] Representative Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a close Trump ally, was the first member of Congress to publicly back Constantino — a signal of where the MAGA wing of the party stood. ^[2]

Since I know this district and these numbers like the back of my hand…as @Redistrict says “I’ve seen enough”

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Congratulations to @constantino on his overwhelming victory in today’s #NY21 Republican primary!

This was a hard fought election and the voters have spoken loudly…

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) June 24, 2026

But the establishment doesn’t always lose. In Iowa, Republican voters recently rejected Trump’s endorsed candidate for governor, choosing a grassroots farmer and political strategist instead. ^[18] That result was a reminder that Trump’s endorsement is powerful but not automatic. Still, in NY-21, it proved decisive. Constantino now heads to the general election as the Republican nominee in a district that leans Republican — a race that will test whether voters want a Washington outsider or a battle-tested veteran to represent them. Either way, the party establishment got a clear message: loyalty to Trump matters more to primary voters than years of service to the party.