Congressional candidate Anthony Constantino is refusing to debate his Republican primary opponent, Robert Smullen.
“I look forward to debating the Democrat, who appears to be Blake Gendebien, in the general election. It will be very enlightening,” said Constantino, an Amsterdam business man who lives in Edinburg in Saratoga County, in a post on his campaign Facebook page.
Constantino said debating would provide “more attention” for Smullen, a state Assemblymember from Johnstown.
Smullen chided Constantino for refusing to debate.
“The voters of NY-21 deserve a real conversation about the issues that matter to their families, their farms and their future, not a checkbook candidate hiding from scrutiny,” he said in a press release, referring to Constantino self-funding his campaign.
Smullen said he had accepted invitations to participate in four debates prior to the June 23 primary for the Republican nomination in the 21st District, where six-term Rep Elise Setefanik (R-Schuylerville) is not seeking reelection: one hosted jointly by WWNY-TV 7 in Watertown and WCAX-TV 3 in Burlington, another hosted by radio 100.7 FM in Utica, another hosted by The Daily Gazette of Schenectady at Gloversville, and another hosted by CBS-TV 6 in Albany.
In a WIBX 950 radio interview Friday, Smullen said CBS 6 has informed his campaign that it will host a town hall forum May 28, regardless of whether Constantino participates.
“And it will be an ‘empty chair debate’ if my opponent does not show up,” he said.
Constantino said he holds numerous public events at that the public, reporters and Smullen himself, if he wishes, are free to attend and ask questions.
Constantino told The Daily Gazette of Schenectady it would be disrespectful to President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Constantino’s candidacy, to debate Smullen.
The state Republican Committee and 12 of the 15-county Republican committees in the 21st District have endorsed Smullen,
The other three county Republican committees have not held endorsement votes.
Also on June 23, there is a Democratic primary between Blake Gendebien, a farmer from Lisbon in Saint Lawrence County, and Stuart Amoriell, a restaurant owner from Lake Placid.
The status of debates between Democrats is not clear.
The Daily Gazette reported Gendebien did not respond to an invitation to debate Amoriell June 4 at Gloversville.
Amoriell said in a telephone interview Saturday that the Gendebien campaign also has not responded to a separate request his campaign made to debate with a host and place to be arranged.
The Gendebien campaign did not respond to repeated requests Wednesday and Thursday to comment for this report.
Genedebien could not be reached directly on Friday. A voicemail message said his mail box was full and could not receive messages.
Amoriell said he hopes a debate can be arranged.
“I think that’s an important part of the democratic process … A debate gives an opportunity to get beyond the first two sentences,” Amoriell said. “We think it’s important, but apparently, it’s not what the other side wants to do.”
Debates used to be common in regional congressional races but have not been held in the two previous election cycles.
In 2022, Democratic candidate Matt Castelli refused to debate his primary challenger Matt Putorti.
Stefanik then cited Castelli’s refusal to debate Putorti as a reason for refusing to debate before the general election.
In 2024, Stefanik did not debate Democrat Paula Collins.
Smullen already has the Conservative nomination, which ensures him a line on the November general election ballot, regardless of the outcome of the Republican primary.
Constantino and Gendebien are separately circulating nominating petitions to run on Independent lines, which, if successful, would ensure them lines on the general election ballot regardless of the outcome of their respective primaries.
Gendebien has said his intention of securing an Independent line is to attract votes from Independents and Republicans who would be reluctant to vote for him on Democratic line.
New York election law allows candidates to run on multiple lines in the general election and combine the total number of votes received on all lines.
Christopher Schmidt, a day laborer from Hudson Falls, is also circulating nominating petitions to run exclusively as an Independent.