Several weeks ago, the campaign of Emily Martz, Saranac Lake, formally invited the other four Democratic candidates running to face U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik to hold a unity event on the night of the primary election, June 26.

“I think it would be a tremendous show of unity,” said Christopher Di Mezzo, communication director for the Martz campaign.

The invitations went out privately at the Long Lake Candidate Forum on May 15, according to Di Mezzo, to Katie Wilson, Keene; Tedra Cobb, Canton; Patrick Nelson, Stillwater; and Dylan Ratigan, Lake Placid.

According to Di Mezzo, Wilson and Nelson were enthusiastic about the idea, as were a number of candidates who had already left the race. But Cobb and Ratigan declined to attend, causing the event to be cancelled.

Ratigan could not be reached for comment.

In a statement on Facebook, Cobb said she appreciated the idea but would be working until late on election day.

“We appreciate the sentiment — our shared goal is to beat Elise Stefanik in November and it is going to take all of us working together to make that a reality,” she wrote. “On Election Day, I will be in the field and working the phones with our volunteers to Get Out The Vote until the polls close. I look forward to participating in a unity event in the days that follow.”

Mike Szustak, campaign manager for Cobb, said that they declined for practical reasons, including working with Get Out The Vote and already arranging an event.

“We’ll be in Canton at the Best Western,” he said.

With the hall already booked and the campaign planning on working until the polls closed, he said it would be difficult to travel to meet the other candidates.

“We really want to do that,” he said. “But not on election night.”

Perhaps ironically, the proposal of a unity event has itself become contentious.

“As of the moment, it is not happening,” Di Mezzo said. “We’re extremely disappointed with Dylan’s campaign and Tedra’s campaign.”

The Martz campaign intentionally did not select a location for the event, with the intention that all five candidates could select one together.

“We all had practical concerns,” Di Mezzo said. In his opinion, “the display of unity would be worth cancelling a planned event.”

Wilson was even blunter.

“The Cobb campaign has been the least agreeable,” she said. “Just isolationist and mean.”

Wilson said the Cobb supporters she had spoken to thought the unity was a good idea, and she was dismissive of the suggestion from Cobb’s campaign of holding an event after election night.

“She covered her ass because she refuses to come to (the planned) unity event,” she said.

Asked about Ratigan’s refusal, Wilson said she was surprised.

“I honestly don’t know many Ratigan supporters,” she said. “I’m surprised to hear he didn’t want to do it.”

The unity election night seemed perfect to Wilson, who said her campaign had not yet set plans for the night.

“I thought it was a great idea,” she said. “If someone wants to host one (after election night), I’ll go.”

Nelson was also supportive of the idea, while acknowledging there were practical problems with the suggestion.

“The idea of sharing election night is very symbolic,” he wrote in a statement texted to the Times. “We need to remember that this district is 15,000 sq miles, and getting everyone together is going to be difficult, logistically. But unifying the campaigns should not wait.”

Di Mezzo described the proposed unity event as part of the Martz campaign’s efforts to dispel the narrative from the Stefanik campaign that the Democrats are divided and in disarray. Two weeks ago, Martz released a statement disputing the idea that the five-way primary was a sign of political weakness.

“When I hear that the Democrats are in disarray, I’m frustrated because I know that’s not the case,” she wrote. “Each of us is working hard for the opportunity to challenge the incumbent in November and for the opportunity to represent the people of New York’s 21st District … No, we are not divided — we are more unified than ever before; unified in our common goal of bringing real North Country representation to the people who deserve it most; you.”

Many of the candidates have been appearing at candidate forums together since last summer, including Cobb, Martz, Wilson and Nelson.

“At the end of the day we’re all on the same team, we’re just trying to figure out who the captain is,” Nelson wrote in his statement.