Assemblyman Robert Smullen, a Republican from Johnstown, will officially launch his campaign Thursday to represent the North Country in Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smullen will officially kick off his campaign for the 21st Congressional District 5 p.m. Thursday at the Johnstown-Gloversville\u00a0Holiday Inn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If you want a mission done right, you should send a Marine, so I’m asking the people to send me to Washington,” he told\u00a0Spectrum News 1\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Smullen, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel who served 24 years, has represented\u00a0parts of Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Oneida and Otsego counties in the state Assembly since 2019.<\/p>\n
After more than six years in the Legislature, Smullen said he’s ready to take his work representing upstate New York to Washington D.C. after Rep. Elise Stefanik launched her gubernatorial bid to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul next year.<\/p>\n
“I served our country all over the world, and now I think it’s time to extend my service down to Washington, D.C. where we can put upstate first,” the assemblyman said.<\/p>\n
Smullen is the first Republican candidate to officially enter the race. Potential challengers include Democrats Blake Gendebien and Dylan Hewitt, who have been campaigning for the seat for months.<\/p>\n
The assemblyman said, if elected, he will focus on protecting the North Country’s economy and businesses and making the district more affordable.<\/p>\n
He supports closing both the northern and southern borders and deporting all immigrants living in the country illegally.<\/p>\n
“It needs to be closed for as long as necessary to make sure that immigration is legal in the United States,” Smullen said. “That’s part of the America First agenda \u2014 in order to have a country, you have to be able to have control of your borders.”<\/p>\n
Smullen served three combat tours to Afghanistan, and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom after 9\/11, and is a former military strategist in the Pentagon. President George W. Bush appointed him to serve as a White House fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Office of the Secretary of Energy in 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump appointed Smullen to be a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellows from 2018 to 2021.<\/p>\n
Smullen, a staunch Trump supporter, said he’s the best candidate to represent the values of the 21st Congressional District.<\/p>\n
“Everything in my background from where I’ve lived, from where I’ve worked, to where I live now makes me a great candidate to take our voice and our values to Washington,” he said. “I’m the only Trump-appointed, battle-tested leader that’s going to be in this race and I’m going to make it my mission to represent the people and put upstate first.”<\/p>\n
Smullen chairs the Assembly Republican conference, and authored the conference’s rural initiative while serving on the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources.<\/p>\n