To the Editor:

Here we are, in the days leading up to Primary Election Day, Tuesday, June 23, with decisions to make, especially if you are a registered Republican like me. There is a hotly contested race on the Republican primary ballot, which pits Amsterdam businessman, Anthony Constantino, owner of Sticker Mule, against New York State assemblyman for the 118th District, Robert Smullen.

They are fighting a spirited battle to see who gets to run on the Republican line in November's general election that will decide who will go to Washington DC and be sworn in next January as the 21st Congressional District's next Representative, replacing outgoing House member Elise Stefanik.

I for one, appreciate all that Congresswoman Stefanik has done for the people of the North Country, including our servicemen and -women stationed at Fort Drum, during her years of service. While I'm not prepared to endorse any candidate at this time, I urge you to educate yourself on the choices presented on this year's Republican party's ballot. 

There is one online source that I can recommend that can be very helpful, no matter where you live and vote. It's ivoterguide.com and it will assist you in your duty to, as proclaimed on the ivoterguide.com website, "Vote Wisely."

As we celebrate our nation's 250th birthday (also called a "semiquincentennial") let's give thanks to God for the wisdom, courage, and fortitude of our "Founding Fathers," who risked everything in declaring our independence from the rule of royals, in their case, England's King George III, and forging a new nation unlike any seen on the face of the Earth. God bless their memory and God bless America. 

Dixie Dave Ellis 

Hammond