Robert Smullen ended his bid for Congress on Friday after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, and said he will no longer appear on the Conservative Party ballot line. The move narrows the NY-21 contest and clears another path for Anthony Constantino in the November election.
Smullen had already lost to Constantino in the June 23 primary, but he still held the Conservative Party nomination. In a statement, he said he was deeply honored to meet with President Trump, confident in the president’s vision for the country and energized about keeping NY-21 in Republican hands while finding an alternative path to continue public service himself.
That wording leaves one important point open: the meeting appears to have settled the question of whether he would stay on the ballot line, but not necessarily the details of what was said in the room. For Smullen, the decision also marks a turn from a direct campaign back toward some other form of public service, though he did not spell out what that route will be.
The shift also reflects how quickly the race has moved since the primary. The Republican Party county chairs had backed Smullen earlier, then rallied around Constantino after his win, and Constantino responded by thanking Assemblyman Smullen for withdrawing from the Conservative line to help him win in November. Constantino now faces dairy farmer Blake Gendebien in the November election, with one fewer ballot-line fight and a clearer path into the general campaign.
What remains unresolved is how much the White House meeting shaped the decision and what form Smullen’s next chapter will take. For now, his exit settles the immediate ballot question and leaves Constantino to carry the Republican-aligned side of the race into November.
