To the Editor:

I thought I would refrain from writing another political letter during this current campaign season but the following letter begs for a response.

 “Constantino Running to Give. Gendebien Running to Take”.

The author’s first example of the giving qualities Constantino is the pledge Anthony Constantino made to donate his entire congressional salary to Sgt. Eddie Ryan, a wounded veteran who sacrificed more for this country than most of us could even imagine. 

I’m sure Sgt. Ryan and his family are rightfully appreciative, and we can all be thankful for that good work. 

BUT! Why was this donation so publicly announced before this election? When an individual does good I would hope the individual would follow the biblical standard set by Jesus in Mathew 6:55-6. The gist of which is Keep it to yourself  and God and you will be rewarded. 

This has the look of a political ad. In fact it has already been used in Constantino’s ads. The congressional salary of $174,000 is a drop in the bucket of the amount of money this candidate is spending on this election – a whooping 16 million dollars. Perhaps that is why we see so many road signs and media ads from Anthony Constantino.  Perhaps that is why he can afford to use drones and private investigators to try to catch his opponent in some wrong-doing. Thanks to good reporting and the law that effort failed. It did however expose the underbelly of Anthony Constantino’s character.

I’ve noticed that not very many of Constantino’s signs are on individuals properties whereas many of Gendebein’s signs are on individuals homes indicating much stronger local support for Blake Gendebein

“He is also paying for his own campaign”. Yes, the whooping 16 million dollars afore-mentioned. He’s learned a lot from Elon Musk who is spending 366 million dollars during this election cycle. 

That means if Constantino gets to Washington he’ll be “Nobody’s Man but Himself and Trump’s. Anthony Constatino has no platform. He does however have the endorsement of Donald J. Trump. A vote for him is a vote for the Trump agenda.

Decades ago I was asked to be a judge in a talent show the Gendebeins were running at Lisbon Central School to support their newly founded Not for Profit . Over the years this organization has benefitted many local students. The talent show was well run and I saw first-hand the love for the students Blake and his wife Carmen had. He kept up that kind of work by serving on the Lisbon school board as well as coaching several teams. Presently he is Vice Chair of the Cooperative Board of Agri-Mark. In his younger days he served in the Peace Corps

The writer that says that Blake Gendebein is a taker not a giver did not do his homework.

Blake Gendebien’s willingness to serve in Congress is simply a continuance of giving to his community and that my friends defines running to give.                                                     

Blake Gendebein is running to give. Anthony Constantino is trying to buy an election.

The last word: Let’s put a stop to individuals trying buy elections in the North Country and in NY21. “We the People” should mean something.

Joseph M. Liotta
Norwood