By Patsy Nicosia
Capital Region Independent Media
With the presidential inauguration earlier this week, the biggest question in the 21st Congressional District remains who will be the local representative in Washington if Elise Stefanik is confirmed as ambassador to the United Nations as expected.
Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-102, who represents Coeymans and Ravena, said he’s still interested in running for the seat — and he’s still in the running.
“It’s still a bit of a wait and see until there’s officially a vacancy and the governor calls for a special election, but I’m preparing for the process,” Tague said.
“Right now, there’s really no seat to run for. Out of respect for the Congresswoman, I’m keeping it low-key until it’s officially open.”
The list of would-be candidates changes almost daily.
D. Billy Jones, a Democratic Assemblyman in the 115th District who had been regarded by some as the Democratic front-runner, said he won’t be seeking the nomination after all.
That leaves potential Democratic candidates Paula Collins, a cannabis lawyer who ran unsuccessfully against Stefanik in November; Roderick Driscoll, a teacher and school administrator from Peru, New York; Blake Gebdebien, a St. Lawrence County dairy farmer; and Steve Holden, a retired Army officer who lost to Congresswoman Claudia Tenny in the 22nd Congressional District in 2020 among those who’ve already said they’re interested.
The list of Republican hopefuls is just as long.
In addition to Tague, they include State Sen. Dan Stec from Queesbury; Matt Doheny, a businessman from Watertown; Anthony Constantino, a businessman from Amsterdam; former U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, who lost reelection in his 19th District in November; and a handful of other state and county elected officials.
The field is at least 10 to 12 deep on both sides of the aisle and the process of putting up a candidate will be the same — the candidates will be chosen by the district’s party chairs and there will be no primaries.
Both Democrats and Republicans have begun interviewing candidates.
Tague is also chair of the Schoharie County Republican party, but said he’s recused himself from the process because of the potential conflict of interest; Vice Chair Michelle Price will be handling the interviews here instead, he said.
Once Stefanik officially steps down, Gov. Kathy Hochul has 10 days to call a special election, which must then be held within 90 days.
Tague won re-election in November, defeating Democratic challenger Janet Tweed of Delhi.
“I’m fortunate because all that infrastructure is still in place,” he said. “I could be ready to go immediately.”
If he’s not the candidate, Assemblyman Tague said he’ll support whoever the GOP candidate is.
“At the end of the day, I’ll support whoever the county chairs pick,” he said. “The most important thing is to keep GOP control of that seat.”
Stefanik was elected to represent the 21st Congressional District in 2014.