Gendebien, Tonko discuss tariffs on campaign trail
Progressive policy ambitions meet practical realities as Americans weigh costs and consequences.
Blake Gendebien and Paul Tonko stood in Ogdensburg on Friday and talked about tariffs like they had just discovered the word. It would be funny if it weren’t so transparent. For the better part of a decade, Democrats in New York told us tariffs were a tax on working families, a reckless trade war that would gut the economy.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) - Democratic Congressional Candidate Blake Gendebien campaigned in Ogdensburg Friday. He gathered with members of several unions in front of the Ogdensburg Prescott International Bridge, where he discussed tariffs.
Gendebien says negative cross-border relations are hurting local businesses and stunting innovation in the North Country. Congressman Paul Tonko of the Capital Region joined Gendebien on the campaign trail. “We have a person that is going to bring reason, soundness, sensitivity, and experience to the chair, Blake Gendebien,” said Tonko, D-20th District. “This is not a divisive campaign.
It is about the North Country, and we are going to work to repair our relationship with Ontario and Quebec,” said Gendebien. Gendebien is running against Republican Anthony Constantino in the 21st Congressional District.
Tonko represents the Amsterdam area, where Constantino is originally from. In a statement, the Republican claimed that Tonko and Gendebien enjoy hurting local businesses. He said Tonko refused to help him when people were boycotting his company, Sticker Mule.
Tonko says Constantino’s claim that he and Gendebien are anti-business has no validity. Copyright 2026 WWNY. All rights reserved.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Blake Gendebien and Paul Tonko stood in Ogdensburg on Friday and talked about tariffs like they had just discovered the word. It would be funny if it weren’t so transparent. For the better part of a decade, Democrats in New York told us tariffs were a tax on working families, a reckless trade war that would gut the economy. Now they want to chat about protecting American industry as if they’d been champions of it all along.
Maybe they saw the president’s trade policies actually bringing factories back. Maybe they realized Ogdensburg makes things and the people who make them are tired of cheap promises. Either way, voters can tell the difference between conviction and a campaign-year conversion. You can’t spend years calling Trump a trade saboteur and then show up in a border town pretending you had this idea first.
The president’s tariffs are working because they put American workers ahead of global supply chains. No policy is flawless, but the results are real: reshored manufacturing, reopened plants, and a trade posture that doesn’t flinch. If Democrats want to run on that record, they’re welcome to. But they don’t get to rewrite history. They spent years calling Trump the problem. Now they’re suddenly his best students.
We’d say better late than never, but that would be too kind. Trust is earned, not lifted from a stump speech. Let them keep talking. Every time they do, they remind voters who actually fought for American industry and who just showed up for the applause.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.