{"id":6817,"date":"2026-08-18T05:13:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T05:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6817"},"modified":"2026-08-18T05:13:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T05:13:39","slug":"ny-entrepreneur-who-lost-millions-for-backing-trump-now-self-funding-a-campaign-to-succeed-elise-stefanik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6817","title":{"rendered":"NY entrepreneur who ‘lost millions’ for backing Trump now self-funding a campaign to succeed Elise Stefanik"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Anthony Constantino believes publicly backing Donald Trump cost his company tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Inside Brooklyn\u2019s seedy Penn Track sex market where pimps, murder and human trafficking are part of daily life<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, the founder and CEO of Sticker Mule told me an internal audit showed his custom printing company, based in Upstate New York, lost as much as $50 million in revenue after he endorsed Trump in 2024.<\/p>\n

But rather than be cowed by the backlash, it pushed Constantino to fight back harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis situation in America is never going to get better if somebody doesn\u2019t power through on this and just not back down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now the 43-year-old CEO is headed to the general election after clinching the Republican primary in the 21st Congressional District, which will be vacated by Elise Stefanik \u2014 and he is self-funding his entire multimillion-dollar campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be self-funding to be an independent-minded person \u2026 able to do everything that\u2019s right,\u201d Constantino explained of the decision to shell out millions on the congressional bid.<\/p>\n

That self-financing has allowed him to focus on the topics he cares most about \u2014 namely, reshoring American manufacturing.<\/p>\n

While Constantino is embracing politics now, that was never the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2016 he bought MAGA Christmas ornaments for his mother\u2019s elderly neighbors in Florida. Because the purchase was treated as a campaign donation, a left-wing influencer publicized it. Sticker Mule became, in Constantino\u2019s telling, one of the first companies to face a full-scale cancellation over Trump support.<\/p>\n

\u201cTens of thousands of Democrats were writing us hate mail,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe just woke up one day, and it was like all hell broke loose \u2026 You never had a day where 10,000 people tell you they hate you, they\u2019re going to destroy your company.\u201d<\/p>\n

That experience made Constantino more invested in speaking up; after the 2024 assassination attempt on Trump, he felt compelled to be more assertive \u2014\u00a0and sent an email to his company\u2019s mailing list, endorsing the former president.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump got shot. And at that point, I just said, like, \u2018All right, you know, enough\u2019s enough,\u2019\u201d Constantino explained. \u201cThat experience \u2026 really woke me up to how bad the left has become.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been scared to tell people that I was a Trump supporter. But [now] I want people to know I am a Trump supporter,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd nobody should be scared to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more WNBA responds after fans claim they were forced to cover up \u2018offensive\u2019 XX-XY shirts at game<\/a><\/p>\n

Constantino claimed his company lost roughly 250,000 customers after the endorsement. The backlash also damaged the company\u2019s advertising efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took a major hit in search,\u201d Constantino said.<\/p>\n

After all that, he felt like he had nothing else to lose. When he learned that the North Country seat long held by Elise Stefanik would be open, he decided to act.<\/p>\n

Constantino believes his business \u2014 which producescustom stickers, labels, packaging, apparel and other products from facilities in New York \u2014 can serve as a blueprint for manufacturing domestically.<\/p>\n

Raised in the Rust Belt, he has watched as factories have been hollowed out across upstate New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a manufacturing town \u2026 I saw manufacturers getting destroyed my whole life,\u201d he said. \u201cMy whole town is covered in empty buildings [that] used to be great factories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Sticker Mule, he said, was built as a response to that decline. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe customer really wants a high quality product that\u2019s made locally and shipped to them quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the distribution layer is like, let\u2019s go to China, right? Because that\u2019s cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes the answer is to start building again \u2014 for American manufacturers to improve their processes until domestic production becomes faster, cheaper and better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to start innovating again in the manufacturing space,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of our brain power in America in the last 10 to 20 years \u2026 went to software. You can innovate in software, but you can innovate in hardware too \u2026 In order to bring manufacturing back to America, you have to design your own machines.\u201d <\/p>\n

Constantino also pushes back on one of the central fears about automation: that it kills jobs.r<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m constantly automating. But my growth was so good that I could automate and grow employment and raise wages at the same time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more House leaders Johnson, Jeffries issue rare bipartisan rebuke over Florida candidate Dan Bilzerian\u2019s vile antisemitism<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Constantino believes publicly backing Donald Trump cost his company, Sticker Mule, tens of millions of dollars. But rather than be cowed by the backlash, he’s running for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s 21st Congressional District seat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nNY entrepreneur who 'lost millions' for backing Trump now self-funding a campaign to succeed Elise Stefanik - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6817\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NY entrepreneur who 'lost millions' for backing Trump now self-funding a campaign to succeed Elise Stefanik - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anthony Constantino believes publicly backing Donald Trump cost his company, Sticker Mule, tens of millions of dollars. 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