Congresswoman Stefanik spoke with reporters in the Town of Plattsburgh, at the site of a water infrastructure project she helped fund. Photo: Zach Hirsch

Jul 09, 2018 — Congresswoman Elise Stefanik says she's against President Trump's trade war with Canada and other U.S. allies.

The Republican lawmaker spoke in Plattsburgh Friday. "I am concerned about the punitive impact of tariffs because of this ongoing trade war," Stefanik said. "When it comes to targeting China, let's target China and not our important allies and trading partners like Canada, like our allies in Europe."

Stefanik also thinks Congress should have more of a say in the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. She said she supports modernizing and renegotiating NAFTA but not tearing it up, as President Trump has threatened. She said the White House shouldn't be able to unilaterally pull the U.S. out of a trade deal.

Then, speaking with reporters, Stefanik took a few swings at Democrat Tedra Cobb from Canton.

Stefanik is up for reelection this fall, and she faces a challenge from Cobb and Green Party candidate Lynn Kahn. And it's gearing up to be a bitter campaign.

Right after Cobb won the Democratic primary last week, Stefanik’s camp released an attack ad.

“Meet taxin’ Tedra Cobb, liberal Democrat and former St. Lawrence County legislator running for Congress. Taxin’ Tedra voted 20 times to increase taxes,” the voiceover goes. There’s a grainy picture of Cobb, creepy music, and an ominous, panicky feel to the spot.

NCPR asked Stefanik about this on Friday. She didn’t talk about the ad itself but she repeated its message, almost verbatim. “Well this election is going to be a clear choice. My opponent has a record of raising taxes over 20 times. She’s taken over 20 votes to raise taxes on the hardworking families,” Stefanik said. “It’s a clear contrast and voters deserve to know about her record voting to raise their taxes.”

The Cobb campaign rejects that narrative. Mike Szustak, Cobb’s spokesman, acknowledged that in her eight years on the county legislature, Cobb did vote for some tax increases. But he said a lot of those 20 votes Stefanik is pointing to are moments when the tax rate actually decreased or remained the same.

In a statement, Cobb said that Stefanik “does not understand local government and the challenges we face in Northern NY.”

“If Elise Stefanik had a record to run on, she wouldn’t need to call people names,” Cobb added. She then went on to criticize Stefanik for her votes in Congress, including a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act that would have resulted in thousands of North Country residents losing their health insurance.

Cobb has also attacked Stefanik, calling her an outsider who refuses to meet with her constituents.

Stefanik said she’s meeting with people “all the time.”

“We did very successful town halls. We’re doing coffees-with-your-congresswoman with various agencies to provide constituent services. I do all sorts of roundtables and tours, so I’m running this campaign like I’ve run my first reelection, my first election,” Stefanik said.

Stefanik added that she looks forward to the first congressional debate; she said she thrives in that setting. No word yet on when or where the debate will be.