Anthony Constantino, the chief executive of the company Sticker Mule, is eyeing a run for the expected 2025 special election to fill the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Elise Stefanik. Photo courtesy of Sticker Mule

When Stefanik vacates her seat, New York Governor Kathy Hochul will call a special election to fill the vacancy that is expected to be held by April 2025. Candidates for special elections are chosen by the county party committees.

Constantino, a lifelong resident of New York’s reliably conservative 21st Congressional District, is now among those said to be in the mix for the special election.

According to the Washington Examiner, other contenders include Rep. Marc Molinaro, who lost his reelection bid for New York’s 19th District to Democrat Josh Riley, as well as several state lawmakers and local politicians.

But Constantino revealed to UPI that he has already had conversations with Trump ally Roger Stone and Stefanik herself about his potential run for her seat.

“I am strongly considering it. We’ll try to decide very quickly,” Constantino told UPI. “As soon as Elise got her appointment, my phone started ringing off the hook with people asking me to get involved and do this, and I have been thinking about it.”

Constantino said his “biggest fan” initially was Roger Stone, a key adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign, who seemed appreciative of the Sticker Mule boss’s efforts to support the president-elect ahead of this month’s election.

“After the big old victory of President Trump, he wanted to get dinner. We didn’t know this was going to happen,” Constantino said. “Pretty much on the way to the dinner, this came up. He was very supportive. I spoke to Elise. She seems very supportive as well.”

Constantino said he feels good about the conversations that are taking place, equating politics to professional boxing — a sport in which he has moonlit as a professional boxer.

“But I feel very good about the fact that I already have the support of Roger, at least he seems very supportive and helpful,” he said. “So, to me, it’s reaffirming that I’m making the right moves.”

Constantino said he will now be hitting the road this week to speak with the chairs of the local Republican and Conservative party chairs. “I want to respect the process and get their support,” he said. He already has several meetings scheduled and plans to soon “send out” people to understand the legislative process more.

The political hopeful said he plans to self-fund his campaign if he were to run for the seat, so as not to be “a drain on party resources.” And he has already filed to change his party from the Democrats to the Republicans.

“Yeah, everyone asked about that,” he said. “The real story is … in 2018, my friend ran for Mayor of Albany as a Conservative Democrat, and he asked for my help and support in the primary. You’re not going to get a Republican mayor in Albany. So, I registered as a Democrat to support my friend.”

In discussing his policy interests, Constantino aims to bring people back to the Empire State, which he said has suffered from a decreased population and brain drain. He also said the United States “needs a technological upgrade to perform more efficiently” and hopes that, if he were elected, he could help support the new Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, which isn’t an official government department.

“I would want to be supportive of anything we can do to improve government efficiency,” he said. “That’d be a huge priority for me being a tech guy running a highly efficient, highly profitable company of a hundred engineers at Sticker Mule.”

His biggest hope is to bring some political unity to his district. Last time UPI interviewed Constantino, he was planning a massive election-night watch party that he hoped would bring together Republicans and Democrats, no matter the outcome of the election.

“There’s people that work in my company and support Joe Biden at the time. There are people who support Trump. We all get along. I don’t see why the rest of the country can’t, too. That’s been my message all along,” he said.

“Democrat voters are upset because they believe hoaxes. They should strongly consider letting their frustration go, realize they were tricked, and come back to the table and become friends with their family members and friends with their neighbors again.”

Constantino said he believes he can help with that but also be helpful on the Republican side too, teaching them how to better talk to their fellow citizens across the aisle — and to maybe “be more respectful.”

“My rhetoric can maybe help the right as well, too, in terms of learning how to engage differently with the left,” he said. “I think we have a great situation. I think Trump has a unity cabinet, a unity presidency. He’s got a lot of people from both sides supporting him.”