Inside the park, ringed with flags and signs for the candidates and President Donald Trump, attendees cheered as their candidates predicted big wins and booed as they spoke about Democratic candidates, politicians and policies.

The candidate’s speeches focused in part on turning out the vote.

“The higher the turnout, the more we win by,” Stec said.

Unlike a Democratic rally held at the park a week earlier, the party’s presidential candidate, incumbent Trump, was also a prominent figure in the candidate speeches. Stefanik said the four candidates are running as a group.

State Assemblyman Dan Stec, who is running for a seat on the state Senate, speaks at a GOP rally in Saranac Lake Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

“The North Country is proudly Trump Country. It’s proudly Elise Country,” Stefanik said. “We are going to have a 12-county sweep. We’re going to win big.

“We always say, ‘This is the most important election of our lifetime,’ but this one really is,” she added. “We need to make sure that we elect candidates that represent our values in the North Country.”

One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon came when Stefanik said the House would “fire Nancy Pelosi” by not voting for the Democrat to be speaker of the house in November.

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Stec

Matt Simpson speaks Oct. 17 at a Republican rally in Saranac Lake while running for the state Assembly seat currently held by Dan Stec. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

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Stefanik described Stec as a “check on Governor (Andrew) Cuomo.”

“He is the only choice to fill Betty Little’s unfillable shoes,” she said.

“Send me back to Albany in the Senate to take care of business, Matt Simpson will be my partner and our partner at the federal level, the great Elise Stefanik,” Stec said.

He faces Kimberly Davis, the Democratic Clinton County treasurer.

A crowd stands in Riverside Park Saturday to support Republican candidates for state and federal elections. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

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Simpson

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Simpson, who is running to fill Stec’s seat, is the supervisor of the town of Horicon and faces two opponents: Democrat Claudia Braymer of Glens Falls, also a member of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, and former Thurman Supervisor Evelyn Wood of the Serve America Movement party.

“I know how important it is that our voice is heard in the New York State Assembly,” Simpson said. “I want to be that voice.”

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Stefanik

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Stefanik said she does a lot of case work with veterans, working to secure millions of dollars in benefits. She said she helped pass the Older Americans Act, which funds Meals on Wheels. She also said she brought in $165 million for hospitals and community health centers during the coronavirus pandemic.

She also mentioned the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade agreement.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik holds 8-month-old Maverick after a rally in Saranac Lake. His parents Patrick and Sami Dupree said Maverick is a Stefanik supporter and future voter. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

She said after the Barack Obama-Joe Biden administration “gutted” the military, she invited Trump to Fort Drum to sign a National Defense Authorization Act, which increased military spending.

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Fact-checking

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Stefanik’s speech was more accurate than others she’s given recently, but still, some of the nonfactual claims that have been staples of her campaign were heard.

When talking about her Democratic opponent Tedra Cobb voting to raise taxes in St. Lawrence County she used the phrase “numerous times” instead of the “20” figure she has given in past speeches this campaign. Investigation from North Country media in 2018 showed many of those alleged 20 votes to be routine budget votes, fee raises or not tax hikes at all.

Stefanik was also accurate when she said Cobb supported Medicare for All for two years, including during her 2018 run. However, she continued to say Cobb still supports Medicare for All and would vote for it, which Cobb says is not true.

“My opponent, she ran for two years supporting Medicare for All,” Stefanik said. “She has deleted that from her website. Voters know her position. She supports Medicare for All.”

This time around Cobb says she supports a Medicare public option.

Stefanik also mocked Cobb’s decision to move her campaign to be more remote due to the coronavirus pandemic. She has had few in-person events and has done more by phone and online.

“She’s campaigning like Joe Biden, from her basement,” Stefanik said. “And look at this (she gestured to the large crowd). This is more people at this rally than Joe Biden has ever seen this year.”

Most of Cobb’s work is done in her campaign office, not her basement. Last week she stood on the same stage Stefanik was on for a Democratic rally.

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Five things

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Stefanik said there are five things Cobb is “hiding from the North Country.”

She said Cobb supports “Biden tax increases,” has the lowest gun-rights rating of any North Country candidate ever, has voted to defund the police, supports Medicare for All and would vote for Nancy Pelosi to again be the Speaker of the House.

Biden has proposed raising taxes on the wealthy, as has Cobb.

Cobb has received an “F” rating from the National Rifle Association and the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.

Stefanik said Cobb “is one of the few Democrats that has already voted to defund the police.” When she served on the St. Lawrence County legislature Cobb voted to eliminate a deputy sheriff position.

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Stimulus

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According to a study from Columbia University, 8 million Americans have slipped into poverty during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. Asked at the end of the rally if she believes this is a failing of the federal legislature, Stefanik said Congress “provided the largest economic rescue package in our nation’s history,” referring to the CARES Act, passed in March.

She did not attribute the high unemployment rate to the coronavirus, instead saying it was Cuomo who “shut down the state.”

She said the North Country’s unemployment rate is about half as high as it was in April, as businesses have gradually reopened.

This is true. Still, the unemployment rate was 8.8% in Franklin County and 7.7% in Essex County in August, the latest month these numbers have been reported. This is much higher than it has been in around a decade at this time of year.

She said she supports targeted stimulus payments in the next stimulus package and believes the country needs to get people safely back to work.

Every time Stefanik has been asked why she voted against the HEROES 2.0 coronavirus stimulus package, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate, she has put a provision that undocumented immigrants, who pay their taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, would receive stimulus checks at the top of her list. Asked why this was a dealbreaker on such an important, broad bill, Stefanik said she also opposed the bill “releasing violent criminals,” a claim that misrepresents the legislation.

She said the Enterprise should ask Cobb why she was “mimicking” Stefanik’s position. Cobb also said she would have voted against the bill for similar reasons. The Enterprise has asked her about this, and she said this was an area where she thought Democrats should have compromised to reach a deal with Republicans.

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