From North Country Public Radio's Cara Chapman (Champlain Valley Reporter) , in Plattsburgh, NY, October 7, 2024
"Election Day is less than a month away. The race for New York’s 21st Congressional District pits five-term Republican incumbent Elise Stefanik against North Country political newcomer and Democrat, Paula Collins.
Stefanik has huge advantages heading into November: name recognition, campaign cash, and strong ties to former President Donald Trump, who’s remained popular in the North Country. That’s frustrated local Democrats, who’ve poured time and resources into multiple candidates only to be defeated at the ballot box.
But Collins says she thinks there are multiple ways to define winning this election.
Democratic NY-21 congressional candidate Paula Collins speaks at a meeting of the Clinton County Democratic Committee. Photo: Cara Chapman
At a recent meeting of the Clinton County Democratic Committee, Collins shared a bit about her background and why she's running.
She grew up in Baton Rouge and went to Louisiana State University. Her work as a classical pianist brought her to Texas, where she got married, had a child, and started teaching and performing. When her daughter got older, she decided she wanted to leave the Lonestar State.
In 2009, she moved to New York City to teach special education and wound up pursuing a longtime goal of going to law school. She said that led to her current job as a cannabis tax attorney, and that job brought her to the North Country. Collins also works as an adjunct law professor at Pace University in White Plains.
Collins said as she was looking to settle down in the North Country, she asked who planned to run against Stefanik, so she could support them.
'And the response came, Well that’s the thing Paula, no one’s running against Elise,'and so that was my call to action,' Collins said.
She kicked off her campaign in February, outside a cannabis dispensary in Saranac Lake.
'Truthfulness' a pillar of the campaign
Collins said the things she’d focus on in Congress include women’s rights, commonsense border policy, addressing climate change, and making the child tax credit permanent. She added social security, veterans benefits, and universal broadband are also important.
'And then just general truthfulness. People are longing to have an administration and a congressperson who’s truthful.'
Collins said Stefanik misrepresents what she stands for. That sentiment resonates with voters like Sharon Tyrell from the Schuyler Falls Democratic Committee, who said she doesn’t trust Stefanik.
'When Elise first came out, I saw her speak and she was much more — not progressive but she was more middle of the road,' Tyrell said. 'She has leaned whichever way I feel is gonna get her further personally. And I don’t really trust what she says because I don’t know what she really believes. And that’s what scares me about her.'
Democrats discouraged
Tyrell said she’s excited that Stefanik has a challenger. She said she thinks Democrats are getting complacent, frustrated they can’t find a candidate to beat her.
There’s a reason many Democrats feel despondent in the North Country. Stefanik has trounced each of her Democratic opponents by double-digit margins five elections in a row. She’s a fundraising juggernaut and a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, who won almost every county in the district both times he ran.
Clinton County Democratic Committee Chair Brandi Lloyd said North Country Democrats got really invested in candidates like Tedra Cobb, who ran twice, and Matt Castelli in the mid-terms, only for them to lose.
'And so I think it’s just human nature, right? You just start feeling a little defeated,' she said, 'so then when someone else shows up and we’re like, 'Well, you know, what are the odds? We’ve worked, we’ve worn through shoes, we’ve knocked on doors.' It’s to a point where (you think), can it happen?'
Stefanik's ties to Trump
But she said Collins has won them over.
'She’s impressive, she has a message, it’s genuine and you can feel that,' Lloyd said.
Lloyd said voters she talks to are sick of the negativity and name-calling associated with the Stefanik-Trump camp. Collins said she hopes emphasizing the connection between the two will help swing undecided voters to her side. And she’s enlisting a surprising figure to help her do that.
Collins recently held an event in New York City featuring Lev Parnas, who worked with Rudy Giuliani to dig up dirt against the Bidens before the 2020 election. He later served prison time for fraud and campaign finance crimes, and has since come out against Trump.
Collins said Parnas is a friend, and the two are trying to spread the message that a vote for Stefanik is a proxy vote for the former president.
'If you’re done with Donald Trump, you also need to be done with Elise Stefanik,' Collins said.
A boost from the Harris campaign?
Collins said she thinks she could also benefit from the energy behind Kamala Harris, who came into the race even later than she did. She said the Harris campaign has added momentum for Democrats.
'What we’re seeing, especially since Kamala Harris was added to the ticket, is just this energy and this joy and this recommitment really to, as I say, country over party.'
Lloyd agrees. She said Stefanik is a tough opponent, but Harris’ candidacy could help down-ballot Democrats.
'And I think that Paula Collins will only benefit from that positivity and however we can help her, we will.'
Campaign finance allegations
But the Stefanik campaign sees things differently. In a statement, Stefanik's senior advisor, Alex deGrasse, said the district lacks faith in both Harris and Collins and that's led to 'a record number of endorsements (for Stefanik) from local elected Democrats, Independents, law enforcement unions, and over a thousand local elected officials with more to come.'
DeGrasse also claimed Collins violated campaign finance laws. In July, the state Republican Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against Collins. It alleged she used campaign funds to pay for her rent at an efficiency apartment in DeKalb Junction.
Collins told media outlets at the time that she was also using it as a campaign office and doubling up was a good use of small-dollar donations. FEC rules state that donations can’t be used for rent for candidates’ personal residences, even if they’re being used by the campaign.
Collins, for her part, claimed it was illegal for the state GOP to leak the complaint to the press in the first place. Still, she says she’s now paying for her apartment on her personal card, and using the campaign credit card to pay for a New York City-based campaign office. She said she’s amended the filings, and that resolves the matter. 'I don’t expect that we’ll hear anything of it,' she said.
Looking ahead
DeGrasse said Collins 'is going to be crushed at the ballot box just like every other NYC Democrat candidate they (Democrats) have desperately imported to Upstate.'
Collins has more than one definition for winning in November.
There’s getting a majority of the vote, but she said it’ll also be a victory if the district goes purple instead of red, signaling that Democrats are here and not going away.
And Collins said her campaign this year may just pave the way for a stronger effort in the 2026 mid-terms.
'We use this time to build our team and our volunteer network and our organization and know who’s willing to work where in what neighborhoods either in this county or in any of the other (14) counties. And Nov. 6, we start our new race.'
Democrat Paula Collins holds up a car magnet that reads, "I'm sick of Stefanik. Vote Collins for Congress." Photo: Cara Chapman
Collins said running again has been her plan since she announced her campaign, and she'd also want to be the Democratic candidate if Stefanik is tapped as a cabinet member in a potential Trump administration.
At the Clinton County Democratic Committee meeting, Collins held up a blue and white car magnet that read, 'I'm sick of Stefanik. Vote Collins for Congress.'
'These are going like hot cakes,"'she said, to laughs. 'And I’ve got some yard signs to go along with them.'
Tyrell, from the Schuyler Falls Democratic Committee, said she grabbed one.
'I picked it up because I’m sick of Stefanik and I am tired of watching her just follow Donald Trump and not really take care of our area.'
She said she plans to put it on her car, right next to her Harris-Walz sticker.
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