Early on, the question of who would represent New York’s 19^th district in the U.S. House of Representatives was a surprisingly civil affair. Both candidates seemed to eye bipartisanship as the theme that would bring victory.

Democrat Josh Riley, who took a shot at the seat in 2022 and lost, announced his intention to run again with a series of warm, unifying statements. In an April 11, 2023 campaign video, he described how he is a Democrat in a Republican family, and that experience taught him to “give each other the benefit of the doubt.”

Marc Molinaro, the Republican who has served in this seat for two terms, began by approaching his third with the same largely genial tone he took in his prior elections. Towards the end of April, Molinaro spoke before the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce, and much of what he had to say was about the “tremendous relationship” he held with Democrat Pat Ryan, to whom he once lost a special election in 2022.

The crowd applauded as Marc Molinaro said: “Common ground is elusive space, but we must always try to achieve it.”

A couple weeks later, on May 14, Molinaro posted a video to Facebook and X, smiling as he showed off the results of a Georgetown University ranking declaring him the second-most bipartisan member of Congress. “It's a promise I'm delivering on,” he said in the description, “that whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent, I'm fighting to make a difference for Upstate NY.”

That was around the time columnist Hugh Reynolds, who was in the crowd for that Chamber of Commerce speech, reported the campaign finance numbers as “Riley’s $2.5 million in cash, compared to [Molinaro’s] $1.6 million.”

Something has changed since then.

Around the end of summer, the tenor of the race started to palpably change. The election became openly discussed by analysts from both parties as one of the tightest in America, a crucial swing district that could determine who controls the House of Representatives. Simultaneously, as Harris and Trump seemed locked in a deadlock, a broader political conversation began to take place about whether or not the House of Representatives would be asked to decide who won the race if neither candidate got enough electoral votes.

Molinaro or Riley, then, became a focal point of the nation.

That was right around when Politico declared this the most expensive congressional election in America, with $35 million split between the two parties.

September is when the last shreds of decorum came off the race.

On September 9, Molinaro retweeted a false account of Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, along with the words “[Josh Riley] fought for open borders and dismantled our border security. This crisis – the fentanyl flooding our streets, the rampant crime, and now this – is his to own.”

He faced major pushback, even from Republicans like Congressman Mike Lawler, running in a neighboring district, who called for “restraint” from lawmakers posting “unfounded theories and claims.”

As Springfield’s police department and political leaders repeatedly denied the claims, which led to FBI involvement and bomb threats in Springfield, Molinaro took the unusual political step of doubling down on them. Instead of falling in line with Lawler and admitting that the claims were false, he pivoted to a broader discussion about the border.

“Marc Molinaro has lost whatever credibility he may have had,” Riley posted on September 17, as the pet-eating scandal continued. Once the dam burst, personal attacks and hard shots came fast and furious from both camps.

Increasingly vitriolic one-liners were fired back and forth. “Josh will house illegals in college dorms,” Molinaro tweeted on September 13. “Marc Molinaro’s voting record is really great for the corporate PACs bankrolling his campaign,” Riley posted to Facebook two weeks later.

Riley accused Molinaro of “tak[ing] food off the tables of Upstate New York seniors” by fighting for a government shutdown – even though Molinaro reportedly helped avert a shutdown last year. Molinaro accused Riley of implementing open border policies that are “killing New Yorkers and their jobs” – even though Riley hadn’t even been in office to pass such a bill.

Ads by both parties have attempted to cash in on Upstate “authenticity” by casting the opponent as an outsider. Molinaro ads call Riley a “crooked D.C. lawyer” while Riley ads call Molinaro a “corrupt career politician.”

An hourlong debate televised on WNYT earlier this month careened into rage as the two went after each other’s trustworthiness. Riley told Molinaro he was "literally just making things up” while Molinaro taunted Riley as “lying again."

By the end of the debate, even the moderator seemed ready to quit on the two men who seemed to genuinely despise one another.

There have been a few signs since then that that the candidates might be trying to recapture the old spirit. On October 23, Riley told WSKG that he didn’t know his neighbors’ political party, hearkening again to his “Democrat in a Republican household” bridge-building.

Molinaro, for his part, was quoted by City & State New York on October 15 saying, “I work with Republicans and Democrats, and I don’t get to pick who Ohio, Georgia or San Francisco elects to office,” referring to his former bridge-building approach.

This week, Journal staff received two mailers in support of the Molinaro campaign. They arrived on the same day. One mailer featured a photograph of the congressman listening attentively to a constituent, the image framed between a quote about his willingness to “always put the needs of Upstate families over the partisan political agendas” and a box in the corner saying, once more, “Molinaro Ranked 2^nd Most Bi-Partisan Member of Congress.” That mailer had a return address in Albany.

The other mailer had the words “JOSH RILEY & KATHY HOCHUL” in a scary stencil font, with the words “NIGHTMARE” highlighted in red. The back featured three headlines, featuring the words “raping,” “murder” and “killing.” In a very small box above the postal information were the words “Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” The organization responsible for that mailer is based out of Florida.

Two very different messages that, it seems, may be coming from two very different places.

But the furious campaign ads roll on, and, at this point, it seems difficult to believe that, whoever wins, the 19^th district will see a return to bipartisan politics.