When New York voters receive their ballots to vote in the Federal election on Nov. 5th, they will also have the chance to vote for candidates running in other Federal and local elections, such as House Representative for New York District 21.
The seat is currently occupied by Republican incumbent Elise Stefanik, who is running for reelection, and is being sought after by Democrat Paula Collins.
Stefanik first took the NY- 21 seat in 2014, after Democrat Bill Owens announced he would not seek reelection for the seat, Stefanik has since won six consecutive races for NY-21. Most recently beating Democrat Matt Castelli with 60% of the vote share to Castelli’s 40 percent.
After Trump was elected in 2016, Stefanik aligned herself with Trump, and strongly denounced his first ipeachment attempt and supported Trump through the aftermath of Jan. 6th. She has since been elected as the chair of the House Republican Conference and gained attention for her tough questioning of university professors during a U.S. congressional hearing on antisemitism.
Stefanik is running on a platform of lowing inflation, increasing resources to the Norther Border, supporting small businesses and agriculture, supporting local law enforcement, and continuing to advocate for Fort Drum and local military families.
Stefanik boasts about returning 800 million dollars to the district for Medicare, Social Security, veteran’s benefits, and local business growth loans. Stefanik also promotes her high rating by National Rifle Association, and claims her opponent is a, “Far left downstate Democrat, (who) has stated she believes my Trump-supporting constituents should be sent into forced ‘reeducation camps’,” Stefanik claims.
In contrast, Paula Collins is a political outsider, having no previous work in politics. Collins is a former Brooklyn school teacher NYC-based cannabis tax attorney, and rents a property in DeKalb, giving her residency in the district and allowing her to run for the NY-21 seat.
This has been a main sticking point in criticisms against Collins, as her dubious connections to the district and NYC origins have significantly hindered her campaign’s credibility, with Stefanik capitalizing by stressing her Albany roots.
One of Collins’s main positions is strong support for cannabis dealers in the district, as that is an area she is intimately familiar with, and one of the only growing businesses in the district. Collins has said her campaign mainly aligns with the Hartis Walz campaign, wishing to expand Medicare, uphold New York’s pro-abortion policy, and endorsing an assault weapons ban.
NY-21 encompasses Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Hamilton, Essex, Warren, Washington, Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Schoharie, and parts of Jefferson, Rensselaer, and Otsego Counties, and houses a population of 768,000 people.