Daniel Wolfram
A real local New York politics story unfolded on Election Night Tuesday after a Trump loyalist and CEO of a sticker company won his election.
There were not that many salacious stories on Tuesday after the GOP got utterly humiliated and lost at least 40 House seats at the time of this reporting.
But leave it to the people of New York to create one of the wildest and weirdest stories of these midterm elections.
Because in upstate New York, a Republican Congressman won his election with about 5,000 votes. But he did not handle his victory and success gracefully.
A rare MAGA victory
Republican congressional candidate Anthony Constantino had plenty of reasons to celebrate on Tuesday night. He won the New York US House 21 race over Democratic rival Blake Gendebien in New York’s 21st Congressional District, and the energy in his Amsterdam ballroom was electric.
Local television station WWNY, broadcasting as 7 News, carried roughly fifteen minutes of his speech live at 11 p.m. Constantino used the platform to thank high-profile allies, praising Donald Trump “for having my back” while shouting out Rudy Giuliani and political strategist and convicted felon Roger Stone.
Soon, the mood shifted. Constantino began attacking what he called “the evil news media,” and speakers on the platform started dropping foul language on live television before the network could cut away to other local races.
Profanity against the press
Things grew a lot more personal moments later. In an unexpected outburst, Constantino singled out 7 News reporter Garrett Domblewski and lashed out at both him and anchor Jeff Cole with profanities.
He also hurled a crude insult at a journalist from another organization before ordering Domblewski to leave the room. Then came the chant. Grabbing the microphone, Constantino rallied the crowd with loud cries of “Kick him out. Kick him out.”
Roughly six security guards quickly escorted Domblewski outside. As he reached the sidewalk, the candidate and his supporters shouted another profane chant against the press.
A message to Mamdani from ‘Trump, but on steroids’
The reporters who did get to stay inside the ballroom to hear Constantino finish the speech were in for a wild ride.
Kate Lisa, a local New York politics reporter, gave a first-hand report on social media. After Constantino thanked Trump, he then called on the president to pardon the rap mogul P. Diddy a.k.a. Sean Combs, who is serving time in prison for assault and prostitution.
He then ended with a message to the Mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani. “Hey Zohran Mamdani, the last time there was a battle between the North versus the South, the North won. You understand me? I’m in the North, you’re in the South, I know who you are. You ain’t messing with me.”
Click to display external content from x,
- You can always enable and disable third-party content.
You agree to display external third-party content. Personal data may be sent to the provider of the content and other third-party services.
After Constantino was done with his wild speech, Lisa overheard one of his staffers tell the crowd, “That was like Trump, but on steroids.”
Click to display external content from x,
- You can always enable and disable third-party content.
You agree to display external third-party content. Personal data may be sent to the provider of the content and other third-party services.
Out in the cold
Garrett Domblewski, who was kicked out before he could report all of that, noted that he had shared a perfectly pleasant interview with Constantino earlier that evening, with clips airing on the station at 10 p.m. without any tension.
The campaign had even invited the press to attend the gathering. The crew had made the three-hour trek from Watertown after organizers wrote that they were “looking forward to seeing you all.”
Left outside in the cold, Domblewski had to deliver his live broadcast from the dark parking lot.
