A Republican on the brink of winning a New York House seat used his victory speech to urge Donald Trump to free Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
Anthony Constantino, 44, has declared victory in a contest he currently leads, with over 95 percent of the vote tallied, per The New York Times.
The Republican is up with 51 percent to Democrat Blake Gendebien's 49 percent.
The nail-biting results come in a district Trump carried by 20 points in 2024, and that the outgoing congresswoman Elise Stefanik won by 24 points.
'I think President Trump should consider freeing Diddy. This is a historic New Yorker who did great things for New York State,' Constantino said in his victory speech.
Combs is serving 50 months in federal prison after being convicted of transportation to engage in prostitution. Trump has already ruled out a pardon.
Constantino loaned himself $17 million to run for Congress, and had spent $14.7 million of it by the middle of October, per Federal Election Commission records. The Republican made his millions as CEO of printing company StickerMule.
He did not take donations from individuals or interest groups, and received just $7,000 in transfers from other political groups. He also was not backed by local or national GOP leaders in his primary, who instead backed Assemblyman Robert Smullen.
Constantino speaks at a campaign rally at in Syracuse, New York in October
New York Republican Congressional candidate Anthony Constantino speaks as US President Donald Trump looks on as they a campaign rally at The Oncenter in Syracuse, New York, US, October 9, 2026
Constantino was, however, endorsed in the primary by Trump due to his friendship with Donald Trump Jr.
The likely soon-to-be congressman also jabbed at the media in his victory speech and even threw a reporter out of his election night gathering.
'To those of you in the evil media that aren't bad people, guess what? I got news for you. You're evil too, because you won't expose the bad ones amongst you,' he said.
Pointing at one journalist, he went on: 'Look at that ***hole right there. Take a picture of him... You're a bunch of ***holes.'
He then singled out a reporter from local news outlet Channel 7, continuing, 'This guy is so he's looking at me. Get, kick him, kick him out. Just kick him out, kick him out, get him out of here, kick him out right now. You're just, you're just a rude person,' he added.
Constantino stands in front of a 'Vote for Trump' sign on the roof of his printing company, Sticker Mule, in Amsterdam, New York, in April
'Get out of here. If you want to be tough on me, get out,' Constantino continued. 'I'm not playing games. You deleted two of my interviews.'
Don Coon, chair of the Jefferson County Republican Committee, condemned the outburst.
'He likes to call people names, and he likes to be Trump-esque in his delivery. I just think it's silly,' Coon told WWNY-TV. 'I don't think that he would speak to his customers the way that he was speaking to people last night.'
Former congressional candidate Liz Joy, a local Republican leader whom Constantino had branded 'evil' and urged to quit politics, was also critical.
'Leadership requires building bridges, Constantino continues to burn them,' she wrote on X.
She said he bore responsibility for turning a district with a Republican enrollment advantage of nearly 100,000 voters into a race he barely led, despite his $17 million war chest.
Joy also shared a 3am text from Constantino calling her a 'scumbag' and demanding she resign.
