ICYMI: North Country Dairy Farmer Blake Gendebien, Democrat for NY-21, Hosts Town Hall in Canajoharie

“Let’s focus on what we can all agree on like affordability at the dinner table, immigration reform, rural health care, and supporting small businesses.”

Lisbon, NY – On Thursday, dairy farmer and small business owner Blake Gendebien hosted the latest town hall of his campaign to represent NY-21 in Canajoharie.

Speaking with over 60 community members, Gendebien talked about immigration reform, the impact of tariffs in the North Country, and his plan to bring a moderate, farmer’s perspective to fight government inefficiency and extremism in Congress. 

See more videos and photos from the event here

On immigration reform, Gendebien said “We have to stop demonizing people that are here to work really, really hard… I am committed to fixing immigration reform, securing our border, making sure that we remove criminals with due process. These are things that we all can agree on.”

On tariffs impacting the North Country, Gendebien said, “It’s not just the cost. It’s things getting held up. The tariffs are a disaster. Retaliatory tariffs are a disaster. Farmers do not want bailouts. We would prefer to have our customers and our relationships.”

On government inefficiency, Gendebien said, “In the first 100 days of a presidency, Congress has had the least amount of action in 70 years. That’s just unacceptable. We have to do better.”

On Congresswoman Stefanik, Gendebien said, “Elise owns the tariffs, unapologetically. Elise owns the raids on dairy farmers, unapologetically. Elise owns the closures of three Social Security offices in this district. Elise owns cuts to Medicaid. She is going to support them [and] it hurts people on both sides of the aisle.”

This month, Gendebien has hosted seven town halls across the district to meet with and listen to the needs of community members in NY-21. 

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Born and raised on a farm in the North Country, Blake and his wife Carmen have raised their three sons on the Twin Mill Farm in Lisbon, growing the farm to 500 head of cattle. Blake and Carmen also started The Jules of Life Foundation, which provides resources and support to North Country families battling pediatric cancer. For the past 10 years, Blake has served as the Vice Chair of the Cooperative Board of Agri-Mark where he represented the interests of farmers from across the region. He is a former member of the Lisbon Central School Board, and was a longtime junior varsity basketball coach.