It’s a sunny and cool spring morning as members of the Clinton County Republican Party gather at the Rainbow Banquet Hall in Altona to meet some high-profile state candidates, including 21st Congressional District hopeful Assemblyman Robert Smullen.
Anthony Constantino and Smullen have been trading barbs in a vicious primary campaign. The Clinton County GOP has endorsed Smullen, and folks attending this meet-and-greet reinforced that support. Morrisonville resident Ed Kirby says he “100%” supports Smullen.
“I’ve worked with him before, and he’s just a great guy, all around solid, and I think he stands for the values that we look for,” he said.
Brandon Wallburg from Plattsburgh shared a similar sentiment.
“I am here to support Robert Smullen. He’s an individual that I respect. Our committee has endorsed Robert Smullen, and we stand by that,” he said.
Smullen has been endorsed by the state Republican Party and 12 of the 15 county GOP committees across the 21st District. Constantino has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. As he introduced Smullen to the crowd in Altona, Clinton County Republican Committee 1st Vice Chair Jeff Luck said that was a mistake.
“Assemblyman Robert Smullen understands leadership at the highest level. And I think everybody here knows that our President Trump clearly got it wrong,” he said.
Smullen is outgoing and gregarious as he meets Republican voters. The current 118th Assembly District representative sat down in a side room to tell WAMC just who he is.
“I’m actually from Meco, which is just outside of the city of Gloversville in Fulton County. That’s where I was born and raised,” he said. “Our family, we were brick masons. We had a hunting camp in the Adirondacks, which we still have today.
“I always wanted to go into the military, so I graduated from Gloversville High School in 1986, and I went to the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, a military college, and I took Naval ROTC, and that’s how I got into the Marine Corps. And altogether I did four deployments, 24 years in the Marine Corps and three combat tours to Afghanistan.”
Smullen traveled the world during his military career and has been to 78 countries.
“Upstate New York is a great place to be from. It’s a great place to live, to work, to raise a family. And I think that’s how I got into politics,” Smullen said. “When I got out of the Marine Corps in 2015, I had bought a farm. And then when the incumbent in the 118th Assembly District decided to retire, I ran for that office, and I was reelected three times unopposed in the 118th Assembly District.”
Smullen is a distinguished graduate of the National Defense University Eisenhower School and holds a master’s from Georgetown University. He served in the first Trump administration as a member of the Commission on White House Fellowships.
Now, he is setting his sights on Congress.
“I’m from here. I’ve led Marines in combat. I have worked at the Pentagon. I was a White House Fellow. All of those experiences, all of the issues of the day, I’ve been on the front lines of those, and I’ve worked very effectively in the state legislature representing the people already. So I know what to do, and I can be effective from day one,” he said.
If elected to represent New York’s 21st District, Smullen said his first priorities would focus on Trump administration policies.
“The first priorities are to make sure that the Trump agenda that's being implemented right now in many areas of New York state, that that would continue, Smullen said. “And a lot of that has to do with energy. At the federal level, we can bring energy policies into New York that will then help us become more competitive.
“We have big issues with our businesses of being competitive because of things like energy costs, insurance costs, the cost of doing business in New York state. So, we need to fix those, and I can actually work on those at the federal level.”
When WAMC asked if Smullen would push back on or oppose any of the president’s policies, he said, “Well, I’ll certainly be in favor of the policies that the people of this district want and need.”
New York’s primary is Tuesday, June 23, and early voting runs from June 13 to June 21.
