Spin Cycle

We ought to know by the end of the month who the lawmakers in Albany will pick as the next state comptroller — and one possibility sets up a curious situation.
Should Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli (D-Great Neck) be awarded the powerful post, Gov. Eliot Spitzer would have two special elections to call for northwestern Nassau County. State Sen. Michael Balboni (R-East Williston) is leaving his post to be Spitzer’s homeland security czar.
Simultaneous special elections for Balboni’s Senate seat and in DiNapoli’s Assembly district — where he won 74 percent of the vote in November — has a chance of boosting the Democratic candidate in the Senate district, whoever it turns out to be.
“That would certainly be interesting,” Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said. “But I don't know if it would change too dramatically the get-out-the-vote dynamic.”

Reid J. Epstein

Continue reading "DiNapoli and the Daily Double" »

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?
1. In picking Sen. Michael Balboni as deputy secretary for public safety, new Gov. Eliot Spitzer declaring that Balboni has been “at the forefront of the state’s homeland security and disaster preparedness efforts.”
2. New Lt. Gov. David Paterson declaring: ““Every single white political consultant that I ever worked with likes to promote my disabilities...”
3. New state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo selecting the recently-departed director of the state Democratic Party, Frank Hoare, as deputy counsel, a newly-created position.
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The list of Democrats eyeing a shot at Michael Balboni’s soon-to-be-vacated state Senate seat continues to grow.
There are now seven pols interested in running in a special election likely to take place in February.
The nomination is Great Neck Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli’s to turn down, provided of course that Albany legislators don’t pick him first to succeed Alan G. Hevesi as comptroller. After that, Nassau Legis. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) appears to be the leader in the clubhouse. The others are posturing for future races -- or perhaps DiNapoli’s seat if he is to leave it.

The other Democratic candidates, who will appear before a 35-member Nassau Democratic executive committee next week, are: Nassau Legis. Roger Corbin (D-Westbury); Michelle Schimel, the North Hempstead clerk; Joseph Hand, the political neophyte who lost to Balboni in November; Rocco Iannarelli, the North Hempstead receiver of taxes; and Matthew Cuomo, nephew of former Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Reid J. Epstein

Continue reading "More Line Up for Balboni Seat" »

State Sen. Michael Balboni of East Williston apparently wasn't the only Republican senator approached about a job in the new administration of Democratic Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer.
Nassau Republican sources say Spitzer has reached out to other GOP senators who have Democratic-leaning districts -- including Serphin Maltese, who represents part of Queens and who barely won re-election last month.
Unlike Balboni, who accepted Spitzer’s offer to become the state’s homeland security chief, Maltese, a longtime Conservative Party activist, turned aside Spitzer’s approach, sources said.
The buzz, of course, is that by picking off a few Republicans, Spitzer could whittle away GOP leader Joe Bruno’s slim majority in the state senate and help swing it to Democratic control.

Celeste Hadrick

Nassau Legis. Roger Corbin (D-Westbury) has also thrown his hat in the ring to replace state Sen. Michael Balboni (R-East Williston). Corbin said he has the support of incoming Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat.

Meanwhile, we report today that Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell is likely to be the Republican nominee in a special election, according to sources.

The eight Democrats and two Working Families Party incumbents in the Suffolk legislature shouldn’t take support from County Executive Steve Levy as a given.
In a recent interview Levy, also a Democrat, wouldn’t commit to campaigning for all the members of the current Democratic governing majority. “I’m going to help Democrats but I’m not going to do it blindly,” he said last week.
“I’m going to be helping those Democrats who I believe are committed to a reform agenda and holding the line on taxes. As long as they show me that they are willing to fight that fight, I will stand beside them 100 percent. But it’s not going to be carte blanche, do whatever you want and then expect me to be there,” Levy said.

James T. Madore

Continue reading "Levy: No 'Carte Blanche' Backing in '07" »

Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer's denial of an "ulterior" partisan scheme in picking Republican Sen. Mike Balboni for his homeland-security adviser has that nice lawyerly ring to it.

The line-up for comptroller obsesses the Albany crowd today.
And those hearings to interview candidates should be fun. Picture it:
Legislator: "Have you ever used your staff to pick up your dry cleaning?"
Comptroller Candidate (also legislator): "Uhhhhh...."

The spotlight glares again on Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's business friend, Jared Abbruzzese. The Times Union in Albany reports his withdrawal from a company competing for the state's big racing franchise.

Warm respects are paid to Gerald R. Ford, who for all his flaws projected decency and became president by happenstance.

In the city, the earnest and valuable Gotham Gazzette Web site is fund-raising.

OK so we're very late getting back from that holiday weekend.
But at least Gov.-elect Spitzer livened up the political gossip world today by plucking Sen. Mike Balboni, a Nassau Republican who's been looking for a new gig, as his new top public-security adviser.
There are a lot of angles to this news:
- The impact on embattled Joe Bruno's somewhat slim Senate majority.
- The impact on the embattled Joe Bruno's somewhat slim deputy majority leader, Dean Skelos.
- The scramble among Democrats to win a winnable seat in a special election.
- The scramble among Democrats to run for a winnable seat in a special election.
- And, oh yeah, by the way, a well-respected safety professional asking:
"How irresponsible is this appointment? A politicized public-safety office!"
"Protecting the people of the state of New York is not akin to a volunteer fire department," he fumes. "This is not a hobby."
The announcement is below. We welcome your sincere thoughts.

Continue reading "Spitzer's Pre-Day-One Surprise" »

After State Comptroller Alan Hevesi agreed to resign and plead guilty to defrauding the government as part of a plea bargain, officials from the Albany County District Attorney's office distributed a supporting deposition that challenges Hevesi's early assertion that he was using state employees to provide security for his wife. "These personal services included picking up dishes from the residence of Mrs. Hevesi's sister, driving Mrs. Hevesi to shop at Bloomingdales...picking up items at BJ's Wholesale Club, picking up and dropping off items for dry cleaning, and other personal services."

Errol A. Cockfield Jr.

After reaching a plea deal late yesterday to resign and avoid jail time, Democratic state Comptroller Alan Hevesi will arrive this morning at the Albany County Judicial Center to plead guilty to a class E felony. Hevesi will also pose for a mug shot after he's booked and fingerprinted, an embarassing end after more than three decades in public service.

One political scientist noted to me late yesterday that while it was an abuse of power, Hevesi's assignment of state employees to help his sick wife, Carol, is a common misstep in political circles. The difference is Hevesi got caught. The spotlight was turned on him by an aggressive political challenger, Republican, J. Christopher Callaghan, and an equally aggressive Albany District Attorney, David Soares, who won office two years ago pledging to root out corruption.

According to a story on the upstate Times Herald Record's web site state Sen. John Bonacic (R-Mount Hope) has become the first GOP state senator to call for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) to resign in the aftermath of Bruno's revelation that he is being investigated by the FBI.

As Liz Benjamin notes over at Capitol Confidential, Bonacic is a close ally of state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) who has long been seen as Bruno's successor.

Some Democrats are advising us to add the name Adolfo Carrion, the Bronx borough president, to the list of those likely to succeed Alan Hevesi as state comptroller.
As, as one activist noted: "It would do Bill Thompson a big favor, getting Adolfo out of the way for the '09 mayoral race." Thompson, a Democrat who must leave his current post by 2008 under the city term limits law, is known to be interested in succeeding Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Stranger things have happened. Then again, more normal things have happened too...
(Note: Alert pickup on the earlier, CPA error. Thank you).

As the countdown continues to whether and when Alan Hevesi will quit as state comptroller, the question arises: are his efforts to do business as usual in the meantime doing anyone any good?
Hevesi has been negotiating a deal with the Albany district attorney that is expected to result in him stepping down, perhaps as early as tomorrow, over his use of state employees to chauffeur his ailing wife. While the scandal has unfolded, he has continued releasing audits criticizing cities for not using conservative financial assumptions when putting together multiyear financial plans and scolding the state for allowing its debt burden to grow too fast.
Some of these audits raise serious points, but how seriously can anyone take Hevesi when he criticizes other people’s financial missteps? It brings up that old saying about people who live in glass houses.

Mark Toor

A state Senate source notes that even though Republicans voted to reelect Joe Bruno as majority leader they still have to take a voice vote when the new session convenes. Now that Bruno is under FBI scrutiny for his relationship with businessman and friend, Jared Abbruzzese, there are signs the vote might not be a full-throated chorus of ayes.

State GOP Chair Joseph Mondello, also the Nassau chair, just released this statement supporting Bruno.

"Senator Joseph Bruno has been a dear friend and political ally of mine for many years. He is well liked and respected by people on both sides of the aisle because of his honest, straightforward style. I know him to be a man of integrity and one of the hardest working public servants in this state. As Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee I look forward to working with him to rebuild the Republican Party across every corner of New York. Senator Bruno has my full confidence and support."

Errol A. Cockfield Jr.

The Democrats might already be thinking about Alan Hevesi's replacement but I will always remember him this way: smiling, jovial, ambling through the lobby of the Buffalo Hyatt amidst the crowd at the 2006 state Democratic convention. "No one knows I'm running for reelection," he joked, pleased that his low-on-the-radar status would help him coast easily to victory. He had that confident, elder statesman way about him.

Now Hevesi is avoiding reporters at his Forest Hills home and since he was persona non grata at the Democrats' election night celebration they've resorted to using an old photo from the May convention.

Errol A. Cockfield, Jr.

The language got a little racy in the Suffolk Legislature Tuesday during a debate over whether to spend another $100,000 on legal fees to fight the proposed Broadwater Energy natural-gas terminal in Long Island Sound.
Several lawmakers questioned whether the case would become a money pit like the one involving the Shoreham nuclear plant did years ago.
Legislative counsel George Nolan reassured the legislature, estimating the total bill for this portion of the Broadwater case wouldn’t exceed $200,000.
Nolan also praised Farrell Fritz, the outside law firm hired by Suffolk. “We’re getting a good bang for our buck,” he said.
Legis. Thomas F. Barraga (R-West Islip), who opposes the legal retainer, replied, “I would agree with legislative counsel – we are getting banged.”
Fortunately, no children were in the audience at the time and a cameraman for News 12 Long Island had left the room.
The additional legal retainer was adopted 16-2, with Barraga and Legis. Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-Setauket) casting “nay” votes. Barraga spent more than 20 years as a state Assemblyman before joining the Suffolk legislature in 2006.

James T. Madore

He doesn’t have enough staff, donors or support from his party’s right flank, but Rudy Giuliani does have one thing you need to run for president, a flag-festooned Web site. It was launched this week to coincide with Giuliani’s Broadway fundraising debut. And in typical tight-lipped Giuliani-for-president fashion, it was announced to reporters in an email that contained a single line, the website address.

The site has the bio, the record in New York and a place to make a donation. One woman – Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom Giuliani ran against briefly in 2000 and conceivably could face again – gets no mention. Another – Mrs. Giuliani, wife Judith Nathan – gets a couple of photos and good billing, just in case any conservatives out there are starting to have questions about Giuliani’s marital record.

Craig Gordon

Suffolk Legis. Edward P. Romaine (R-Center Moriches) and Ben Zwirn, a top aide to Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a Democrat, appeared over the past month or so to have called a truce in their verbal battles before the legislature.
Romaine refused to engage Zwirn, saying he wasn’t an elected official and therefore couldn’t participate in debates. And Zwirn ignored Romaine's biting comments.
That silence lasted until today, when Romaine asked Zwirn to provide some details about a proposed Homeland Security Technology Park at the county-owned Gabreski Airport.
“I’m flattered because usually Legislator Romaine asks me to sit down. Now he’s asking me to stand up,” Zwirn said, looking a little surprised at the invitation to speak.

James T. Madore

Continue reading "Romaine-Zwirn Truce Over?" »

A powerful Democratic congressman yesterday offered his two cents on who he would like to see run for president — on the Republican side.
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, of Manhattan, incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, chimed in at a news conference when Mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked about the interest of his predecessor, Rudolph Giuliani, in a White House bid.
“I’m supporting Giuliani,” Rangel said, drawing laughs from the audience at an event on the Lower East Side announcing a new $150 million anti-poverty initiative.
Bloomberg, for his part, said he had not discussed the race with Giuliani but would urge anyone interested in running to go for it. Citing the current possible hopefuls: Republicans Gov. George Pataki and Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), he pointedly ignored a reporter’s suggestion that he himself would round out the list.
He said he wished the “three potential candidates” well.

Emi Endo

They’re both Democratic congresswomen from New York State who happen to have the same first name.
But Gov. George Pataki this morning mistakenly identified the wrong one at a news conference at Grand Central terminal. It was Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, from Nassau’s 4th district, not Carolyn Maloney, from the 14th district of Manhattan and Queens, who attended.
McCarthy apparently noticed the gaffe but Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced her correctly later.
Afterwards, a McCarthy aide said Maloney had also been expected at the event, which probably accounted for the confusion.

Emi Endo

State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood) has taken another fall and cracked a rib, but Jeanette Messina, town GOP vice chairwoman, says he is home recovering and has "no intention" of stepping down from his party or Senate posts.
Trunzo, 80, tripped on steps last month at a restaurant in Albany after attending Nassau GOP chairman Joseph Mondello's election as state leader. "It's not serious. he's fine and he'll be back better than ever," said Messina.
Trunzo suffered a similar fall last year, but went on to win re-election against Democratic primary winner Jimmy Dahroug, an aide to County Executive Steve Levy last month. The latest accident, however, revived speculation that the 34-year Senate veteran might step down in the aftermath of the town election in which fractured Islip Republicans lost the town supervisor's position to Democrat Philip Nolan. However, several Republican sources say that the Senate Republican majority, which just invested heavily in Trunzo's re-election, does not want to put the seat up for grabs in a special election.

Rick Brand

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?
1. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver saying in a parting shot at Gov. George Pataki: “In 17 days, we'll have an extreme makeover in this state, and I look forward to it.”
2. Pataki, when asked if last week's negotiations with Silver were probably his last, responding: "Probably? I hope so."
3. Comptroller Alan Hevesi, interviewed about the scandal surrounding him, telling New York Magazine: “Our audits have saved $2.1 billion for the taxpayers.”

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Democratic Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley may need to give up his favorite punch line.
When he took office, Foley repeatedly blasted the mess he said his Republican predecessors left him . For Foley, the crowning example of all this — the grace note of Brookhaven’s managerial decrepitude — came the day he asked parks officials a seemingly simple question: how many parks the town has.
The officials, Foley said, could not tell him. It was an anecdote Foley repeated in speeches, at press conferences, and with this reporter – we won’t say ad nauseam, but something close to it.
At a work session Thursday, Brookhaven Parks Commissioner Brian Pratt put and end to the mystery.

Erik German

Continue reading "Count The Parks" »

The fault lines over special legislative spending items — also known as the pork barrel — are widening between Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and the legislature, as shown by a clash last week.
Levy introduced a bill that would identify which programs each member funded in the budget. He’s asked the for same thing and been turned down before — and the bill can be considered dead on arrival.
“It’s not going to pass,” said Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook). “It’s contrary to the process.”
Levy complains that the legislature meets behind closed doors and make changes to his proposed budget — then all the changes are swept into a single bill and voted on as a whole, making it difficult to say if X legislator sent money to Y group. "With a wink and a nod, that said if you support my pork, I'll support your pork. No questions asked," said Levy.

Chau Lam

Continue reading "Pork Barrel Polka" »

The hosts of “Inside Albany,” the public-television show that chronicles New York State government, told viewers today that it will end Dec. 31 after more than 30 years on the air.
Lise Bang-Jensen and David Hepp cited rising costs, a small staff and tight budgets for the weekly program’s demise. “While costs have increased, our budget and staff have not,” they said in a posting on the show’s Web site. “The frustration of not being able to cover more stories and the strain of running a business while running after news has caused us to decide to end Inside Albany’s long run.”


James T. Madore

Continue reading "Good-bye to Inside Albany" »

A top aide to Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy took a pay cut when she quit her $99,268-a-year job to work for Islip Town’s newly elected supervisor, Phil Nolan.
Jeanine Dillon, 34, an assistant deputy county executive, who on her own time helped raised money for Levy’s campaign, resigned Dec. 8 after nearly three years on the job.
Dillon, who started her new gig as Nolan’s chief of staff last Monday dec. 11, now earns $88,000 a year.

Chau Lam

Continue reading "Less-Green Pastures" »

As we reported today, Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer's choice to replace MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow is Elliot "Lee" Sander, a senior vice president at DMJM Harris.

Spitzer and Sander said during a morning news conference in Manhattan that they plan to try something new at the MTA. Instead of the split accountability system in place now, where Kalikow and outgoing executive director Katie Lapp split duties, all responsibility for leadership will be on Sander.

Spitzer said he expects Kalikow to leave his post by the first quarter of 2007 and Sander will serve as executive director and CEO, doing away with the chairman title.

The governor-elect also rolled out more senior staff appointments: Pat Foye, president and CEO of United Way of Long Island, to lead economic development; Peter Pope, a deputy attorney general in the criminal division, to serve as policy director, and Anthony Sherris, a campaign policy adviser, to serve as executive director of the Port Authority, among others.

The full list is below.

Continue reading "New MTA Leadership Under Spitzer" »

So what’s in the water in Levittown?
The prototypical suburb, which served as the base of Joseph Mondello, the Nassau County — and now New York State — GOP chairman, is also Republican Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray’s hometown.
It’s also home to three of Hempstead Town’s newest commissioners: for parks, general services and buildings.
No wonder Republican Councilman Gary Hudes, whose district includes the community, said, “Levittown votes yes,” when he approved John Loeffel’s appointment as building commissioner on Tuesday. He was responding to a complaint from lone Democratic Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby about the preponderance of Levittown department heads.
Republican Councilman Anthony Santino, of East Rockaway, today insisted geography had nothing to do with the merit of the appointees.
“We look at their qualifications,” said Santino, who is also a spokesman for Mondello. “Anything else is just happenstance.”

Emi Endo

One of the more ghoulish sidebars to Sen. Tim Johnson's hyper-politicized cerebral aneurysm is the rush of me-too press releases from PR firms wanting to insert their clients into news stories on Johnson's condition. This reporter has no less than four of these missives between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. alone. Here's the lead-in to one of the pitches: "South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson's arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is making national news because a poor outcome could shift the balance of power in the U.S. Senate..."

Granted, the doctors being peddled seem to be on the up-and-up and there is a lot of ignorance about aneurysms, but why are these guys pumping their clients? Guess. Getting your name in the news is just about the the best advertising in the medical business -- that's why many hospitals provide free or reduced-cost surgeries for patients who are willing to share their (exclusively positive) experinces with reporters.

Glenn Thrush

George Bundy Smith, a renowned judge who served for 14 years on New York’s highest court, has joined Chadbourne & Parke LLP as a partner in the firm’s litigation practice.

“George Bundy Smith has had a storied career, and we are honored to have such a distinguished jurist join Chadbourne,” said Managing Partner Charles K. O’Neill.

Gov. George Pataki declined to reappoint Smith.

ALBANY — Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer is set to name Eric Dinallo, the architect behind most of Spitzer’s Wall Street investigations, to be superintendent of the state’s Insurance Department, according to a source intimately familiar with Spitzer’s deliberations.

As superintendent, Dinallo, now general counsel to global insurance broker Willis Holdings Goup, would be in charge of regulating one of the state’s most influential industries — one that’s been a repeated target of Spitzer’s lawsuits as attorney general.

Continue reading "Source: Spitzer to Tap Dinallo as Insurance Superintendent" »

U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia just released an indictment against state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D-Bronx) for improperly steering pork money to a charity. This comes as state lawmakers returned to Albany today for a one-day session where they're discussing a range of issues including pay raises.

Gonzalez is one in a long line of Albany indictments over recent years, the most recent being Queens Assemb. Brian McLaughlin. McLaughlin, president of the city's Central Labor Council, faces a 44-count racketeering indictment that accuses him of mail fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, federal labor law violations and other crimes.

Here's a link to the settlement. Turns out Hevesi will pay $33,000 since he'd already repaid the state about $173,000 - the $83,000 he reiumbursed shortly after the scandal broke and another $90,000 the attorney general's office asked him to place in escrow.

With his strong ties to Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer, there has been some speculation that state Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli, that house's environment guru, might want to become Spitzer's commissioner of the department of environmental conservation.

But DiNapoli, just back from a trip to Israel, made it clear that he is most interested in becoming the Assembly's majority leader, not DEC head.

"My preference is to stay in leadership and move up the ladder," he said.

If freshly-reelected Comptroller Alan Hevesi faces a removal process in the state Senate after all, the witness list and evidence for the defense alone could provide quite a window into lifestyle at our state Capitol. Wouldn't an embattled Hevesi call for sworn statements from legislators, including his strongest accusers, about how they use their staffs, cars, offices and other resources? Regardless of where you stand on the comptroller's fate and misdeeds, this could become one of the biggest procedural spectacles to hit Albany in decades -- perhaps a healthy bloodletting.
Some of us suspect Spitzer may not tangibly have all that much at stake in l'affaire Hevesi. If Hevesi steps down, it could be spun as pressure from Spitzer. If Hevesi fights and loses, it can go under the category of Spitzer siding with the ethicists. If Hevesi fights and wins, the new governor might end up with a weakened fiscal watchdog, which perhaps an executive can live with.
From the contrarian corner, two palpably pro-Hevesi screeds out of NYC: a fresh Village Voice entry from Wayne Barrett headlined "Twisted Spitzer," and a commentary by the veteran civic activist and former NYC parks commissioner, Henry Stern.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Elmhurst) was one of a handful of Democrats to meet with President George W. Bush at the White House Friday.
Crowley said the administration reached out to members of the business-friendly New Democrats and conservative Blue Dog coalitions for an Oval Office chat.
"It was an opportunity for the president to indicate where he’s coming from, who he is and what he’s trying to achieve in the last two years," Crowley said in a brief telephone interview today.
Crowley said the roughly 45-minute meeting, which was also attended by Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential advisor Karl Rove, touched on a range of topics from immigration to Iraq and renewable energy.
While the meeting was cordial, Crowley said the lawmakers stated firmly that they did not intend to be co-opted by the president.
"Our message was very clear; we’re not going to be triangulated," he said. "We’re Democrats first and we’re not going to undermine our leadership."

J. Jioni Palmer

Nassau Republican boss Joseph Mondello is making his first foray into Manhattan today as state party leader to start putting the Grand Old Party back on a solid financial footing.
Mondello has invited the party’s heaviest hitters — those who have given $25,000 or more — to a meeting at the 101 Club to introduce himself and enlist them in his efforts to rebuild the party, which is broke.
Since taking over 10 days ago, Mondello has “cleaned house” according to one aide, ending eight or nine the consulting contracts the party has maintained, except for that of fundraiser extraordinaire Cathy Blaney, who has worked for both former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, Gov. George Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Still unsettled is selection of a new GOP executive director, though Mondello aides say that John Haggerty, who has come under attack in some quarters, remains a leading contender and might be hired this week.

Rick Brand

Long Island real estate mogul and wannabe Major League baseball franchise owner Mark Broxmeyer has joined Arizona Sen. John McCain’s prospective campaign for president.
"The senator asked me to be on his national finance committee and I’ve accepted," Broxmeyer said last week. "I’m going to be raising money for his run for president and I’m going to be very involved on a national level on outreach to the Jewish community."
Broxmeyer, who, in his capacity as chairman of the staunchly pro-Israel Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, honored the GOP maverick at a dinner here last week, said he expects McCain to formally announce his candidacy “in the very near term.”
While a longtime fixture on the Long Island political scene, this is Broxmeyer’s first formal foray onto the national stage. A notorious multi-tasker known to carry more than one cell phone, Broxmeyer is a former finance chairman for the Suffolk County Republicans who once tried to buy the Montreal Expos.

J. Jioni Palmer

Which was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player?
1. Nassau Legis. Jeffrey Toback (D-Oceanside) moving to hold hearings on a trans-fat ban that would follow suit with the new measure in New York City.
2. Former Secretary of State James Baker, chairman of the Iraq Study Group, declaring that in Iraq, “We do not recommend a stay-the-course solution. In our opinion that approach is no longer viable.”
3. Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Mitchell Pally calling for an end to liquor sales to commuters by the Long Island Rail Road.

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Suffolk Legis. Thomas F. Barraga (R-West Islip) doesn’t say much during legislative meetings. But when he does speak, he usually gets the attention of his 17 colleagues - in part because they respect the 23 years he spent as a state Assemblyman.
After listening to 11 speeches last Tuesday in a debate on the merits of a bill prohibiting sex offenders from loitering near playgrounds, public swimming pools and other places where children congregate, Barraga interjected with some political advice that appears to have swayed votes.
“What do your constituents want?” Barraga said, looking around the legislative horseshoe. “From a legislative perspective, the question is what do your people want? They want this bill. They aren’t concerned about adjectives and nouns,” he added, referring to an earlier exchange about whether “loitering” was the correct term for the bill.

James T. Madore

Continue reading "Barraga's Turn" »

Suffolk Legis. Edward P. Romaine (R-Center Moriches) scored a rare victory at last Tuesday’s legislative meeting, after months of seeing his bills defeated in party-line votes only for some of them to allegedly reemerge later as resolutions put forward by County Executive Steve Levy.
Romaine convinced most of the Democratic majority Tuesday to defy Democrat Levy and support a feasibility study for opening another veterans health care clinic on the East End.
Of the 18 lawmakers, 15 supported Romaine’s bill.
The vote came after Ben Zwirn, Levy’s legislative lobbyist, said the feasibility committee wasn’t necessary...

James T. Madore

Continue reading "Romaine's Rare Win" »

Suffolk County became the land of the dueling fundraisers this week.
Both Harry Withers, Suffolk GOP chairman, and Democratic County Executive Steve Levy held their pair of competing events Tuesday night.
Withers’ had a doo-wop group in red jackets and said he sold 200 tickets at $125 each, though some party officials privately put the number close to 150, and the caterer, Windows on the Lake in Ronkonkoma, only charged for 125 attendees.
Levy, whose event at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook featured opera, drew more than 450 people with tickets going for $300 and up.
However, Levy conceded, there were no takers for the $25,000 diamond sponsorship, which included a special breakfast with the county executive in addition to special treatment at the fundraiser.
“I guess they knew I’m so accessible, they didn’t have to pay for breakfast,” Levy said.

Rick Brand

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer met with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday in Washingon and committed his support for her presidential campaign if she runs for president, according to sources close to both New York Democrats.

Glenn Thrush

Oyez! Oyez! Hillary Rodham Clinton has set up a new federal committee!

(To run for Senate in 2012 and not for president in 2008, according to Senate filings.)

Glenn Thrush

Patrick Foye, Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer's likely choice to lead the state's Empire State Development Corporation, first gained some notoriety in Nassau when, as president of the Nassau County Taxpayers Committee, he was active in the fight against the creation of the Nassau County Legislature.

Over at the Daily Politics, Bill Hammond astutely notes that unlike the economic development czars under Pataki and Cuomo, Foye would be the first ESDC chair in two decades who is not the governor's fundraiser.

Their names have been out there for weeks now as speculation has grown about who Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer's braintrust will be, but today Spitzer formally announced his senior team. Spitzer also announced plans for an inaugural on Jan. 1, an outdoor affair in the state Capitol's West Capitol Park.

Here's Spitzer's inner circle:

Continue reading "Spitzer's Senior Staff" »

The conservative DC-based Judicial Watch, which played a key role in exposing a scandal involving Clinton fundraisers during the 2000 campaign (in addition to some of Tom Delay’s shadier doings) is back on the Hillary trail.

The group, which has been furiously grabbing up records from Bill Clinton’s presidential library in Little Rock, is hosting a panel at the National Press Club tomorrow, "Hillary and the Presidency: Ethics, Policy and ‘Bill.’" The fun part will be finding the Clinton intern taping it in the audience.

Says JW founder Tom Fitton: "All of Ms. Clinton’s opponents have skeletons in their closets – Barack Obama’s real estate deals or Sen. McCain sitting down with Charles Keating, but she remains the most compelling example of someone who thinks they’re above the law."

Glenn Thrush

Resi Cooper, political director of Hillary Clinton’s recent Senate re-election campaign, is going into business for herself as a government and labor relations consultant.
Cooper, 36, decided to head off on her own Monday, rather than return to the Senate payroll where she has been Clinton’s Long Island regional director for the past six years.
She said that she will retain Clinton as a client and initially is doing work for the firm of local Democratic heavyweight Robert Zimmerman. Cooper’s old job has already been filled by Lauren Montes, who filled in for Cooper during her time on Clinton’s campaign staff.
She is calling her new firm RJC.org, which is a combination of her initials and that of ther daughter Jana, 12.

Rick Brand