Paula Collins is the long-shot Democrat seeking to defeat incumbent Republican Elise Stefanik in New York’s 21st Congressional district. Collins says there is new energy among Democrats since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race but she isn’t certain how it will impact down-ballot races like hers. Collins spoke with WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley during a recent stop in Plattsburgh:
In any presidential year, we have a greater voter turnout than we have in the midterms. So just the math is going to be different from say what happened two years ago in the race for 21. And there is the MAGA supporter who's thinking they've got to get out and vote for Donald Trump. There's energy on both sides, and I think there's also the swing voter who does exist in New York-21.
Paula, how are you seeing your campaign contributions go, particularly since Harris joined the race and changed the dynamic of the Democrats?
Well, interesting question because initially, I’ve got to say and I was speaking with Bob Hubbell, whom you may know writes a column, is very well respected in political circles. Bob Hubbell was, and we had a telephone call, and he said you know since Harris entered the race all of the money's been sucked out of the ecosystem. Which is true. Initially in those I would say for those first four weeks it was very difficult to raise money because money was going to the top of the ticket. And you understood why. I mean, it was astounding to me, especially being a candidate, to realize exactly how much money people had lying around that could be sent to a candidate. Since then, we've done some things. I say we. Me and my staff. We've done some things a little bit differently so our contributions have gone up slightly. We're still not a race that attracts millions. We're not a race that has a lot of support from PACs. This is not a race, and I knew it from day one, this would not be a race where I was going to raise millions. I also caution people when they say, well you know so-and-so raised $2.1 million. Well, what did it cost them to raise the $2.1 million? I'm very proud of the fact that I get small dollar checks that are coming directly. We, you know, we record them. We report them. But that money is just somebody who was aware of the campaign and wanted to contribute and wanted to get involved in a meaningful way. But it really didn't cost us anything outside of our get out the vote efforts.
Paula, I want to ask about an invitation that you sent out. You talk about having people go down to New York City to see several different speakers. Lev Parnas, who's a former Rudy Giuliani associate and who has been convicted in his own right. Michael Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who's a former advisor to Melania Trump. Curious as to why you sent this invitation out. Are you associating with these folks?
In some ways they are associating with me. So Lev started off as a friend of a friend, and now I would consider Lev Parnas to be my friend. We speak a couple of times a day. We text multiple times during the day, whether it's about the weather or about helping out for my campaign. Lev is really dedicated to democracy and to helping change the, you know, Kamala Harris used a phrase the other night that I think is appropriate turn the page in our nation's history. Michael Cohen also is somebody who's very dedicated to cleaning up our politics. Lev and Stephanie and Michael and also added to that list is Anthony Scaramucci. They are very firmly convinced that a vote for Elise Stefanik is a proxy vote for Donald Trump, and that it is vitally important to our nation's security that Elise Stefanik would not be allowed anywhere near our government in the future. And so they are dedicated to helping out the campaign.
Now, some people in the past would look at this and say, some of these are convicted felons. They're former Republicans and that would be a disadvantage to a Democratic candidate. How different are the dynamics this year in particular?
For starters, both Lev and Michael in particular are remorseful for their behavior with anything they did in Trump world. They also had that wake-up call for each of them as individuals and it was that Donald Trump does not have their backs. Donald Trump is not interested in anybody other than Donald Trump and would hang them out to dry or let them rot in prison rather than speak up or protect them or anything of the sort. So there was that dynamic. The reason I thought it was important to actually have this event, that's going to happen in New York City. And by the way, we're planning several other events within New York-21 so it's not just going to be disconnected from our voters, but bringing Lev up to talk to the voters. But there is that voter in New York-21 who has been really down this path with MAGA or so enamored of Donald Trump and to come back from that emotionally or the embarrassment of going to their friends and family and saying I'm not going to support these people. I'm not going to support Elise Stefanik anymore. I'm not going to support Donald Trump anymore. It's really hard to do and both Michael and Lev in particular have talked about it requires some real character and some real resilience of them as human beings to step back from it.
Paula, you mentioned that you will have some of these speakers come in to New York-21 Why hold something in New York City anyway?
Well, okay, that came about because I knew Lev was going to be there. It was a friend of a friend. We're going to a friend's bar that he owns. It's not just a bar. There's a back room that's I've been to other events in that place before. So it was convenient. What we're wanting to do is generate some noise about the campaign. As I travel around New York-21, you know, there are 15 counties, 15,000 square miles. Inevitably, I meet somebody who says this is the first time I'm hearing about you. Because we don't have the billboards. We don't have the television ads. We've not done a big media splash. And so this is a way, you know, wherever Lev Parnas and Michael Cohen go, which by the way, that Wednesday, September 25 is going to be the first time that Lev Parnas and Michael Cohen have been in the same room since 2017. Now, they've talked a lot. They've been on each other's podcasts. But this will be the first time they're in the same room. It just happened that it was easier to get the band back together in New York City and to also have the access to the national media and then create the buzz and let people know. You know what? Elise Stefanik has an opponent, and she's a formidable opponent and she is somebody who has the backing of people who really were deep into Trump World and now they're not. Now they're saying, whoa wait a second. Put the brakes on this MAGA stuff because Elise Stefanik and her mentor Donald Trump are very dangerous to our nation.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates New York’s 21st district race as solidly red. Republican Elise Stefanik is seeking her sixth term.
