Constantino wins NY-21 House seat and orders reporter removed from victory speech
Republican Anthony Constantino won New York's 21st District seat, then used a profanity-laced victory speech to call for a pardon for Sean Combs and to have a reporter removed from the room.
Republican Anthony Constantino, a former boxer and the chief executive of the promotional products company Sticker Mule, won New York's 21st Congressional District seat, defeating Democrat Blake Gendebien by 50.9 percent to 48.8 percent. His victory speech, which lasted about 31 minutes and was laced with profanity, drew attention for a series of unusual moments, including a call for President Donald Trump to pardon the music executive Sean "Diddy" Combs and an order to remove a reporter from the room.
The seat was previously held by Elise Stefanik, who declined to seek reelection. Stefanik endorsed Constantino after the Republican primary, and Trump also backed him in the race. Stefanik had been Trump's nominee for United Nations ambassador, a nomination the president later rescinded, which left her outside the position she had been tapped to fill and opened the path for the open seat that Constantino ultimately claimed.
During the speech, Constantino called on Trump to pardon Combs, who is imprisoned following a federal conviction tied to prostitution-related offenses. The appeal came from a candidate who had spent much of the campaign pressing his own case against the press. Constantino attacked news coverage of his campaign, including reporting that referenced his opponent's farm background, and he framed that coverage as unfair to him. He then ordered a reporter removed from the speech room, a moment that underscored the combative tone of the remarks.
The margin in the district was close, with Constantino finishing roughly two points ahead of Gendebien. Constantino is set to be sworn in with the 120th Congress on January 3, 2027, when the new session convenes. His arrival comes as Republicans begin a lame-duck push in the Senate to confirm Trump's judicial nominees, a process that will unfold alongside the incoming freshman class and the transition of power on Capitol Hill.
Constantino's public style has been a recurring feature of his political profile. In 2024, a 100-foot "VOTE FOR TRUMP" sign he had erected was upheld by the courts after a dispute with the city, a legal outcome that gave him an early and visible win in his relationship with local government. His campaign and his public statements have repeatedly drawn attention for their blunt language, and the victory speech continued that pattern, leaving observers to weigh his combative approach against the traditional decorum expected of a newly elected member of Congress.
Source: foxnews.com
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