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Rick Lazio
Edwards: I’ll Run With Paladino
Sep 22nd - 8:46 am
Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards has decided to remain on the GOP line with the gubernatorial nominee, Carl Paladino, after defeating the Buffalo businessman’s preferred No. 2 – former NYC Council Minority Leader Tom Ognibene – in last week’s primary.
Edwards, like much of the rest of the state, is now awaiting word from his original running mate, Rick Lazio, as to whether he’ll stay in the general election on the Conservative Party line.
“I’m going to run with Carl on the Republican line,” Edwards told The Buffalo News. “The rest will be cleared up when Rick makes up his mind.”
Lazio is expected to attend an Associated Press conference outside Albany this morning and will no doubt be hounded by reporters asking whether he has made a decision about his future.
In the meantime, Ognibene remains on the independent Taxpayers Party line that Paladino created through a petition drive.
The Paladino campaign has been mulling whether to ditch both Ognibene and Edwards in favor of running a woman or a minority LG to highlight the lack of diversity on the statewide Democratic ticket, which right now includes just one woman – Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand – and no candidates of color.
The only way to get a candidate off the ballot at this point is for that person to die, move out of state or be nominated for a state Supreme Court judgeship. The last day for judicial nominating conventions to tap someone for the bench is Sept. 27.
Q Poll: Paladino v. Cuomo: 49-43
Sep 22nd - 7:10 am
Today’s Q poll finds GOP gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino has dramatically reduced the double-digit lead long enjoyed by his Democratic opponent, AG Andrew Cuomo, coming within just six percentage points of the once-comfortable frontrunner and turning this contest into a real horse race.
In a head-to-head match-up among likely voters, Cuomo leads Paladino, 49-43. Seven percent of voters are still undecided and 21 percent who said they prefer one candidate to the other said they might yet change their minds before the November election.
The poll did NOT include Rick Lazio, who so far remains in the race on the Conservative line. It also shows Paladino a lot closer to Cuomo than even the Rasmussen poll earlier this week that pegged the race at 54-38, again without Lazio in the running.
“The question was whether Carl Paladino would get a bounce from his big Republican primary victory. The answer is yes. He’s within shouting distance and – you can count on it – he will be shouting,” said Q pollster Mickey Carroll.
“Attorney General Andrew Cuomo might be a victim of his own excess. Politicians and polls have depicted him so relentlessly as a sure thing that he might be a victim of the ‘throw the bums out’ attitude that hits incumbents in this angry year.”
Cuomo leads 87-8 among his fellow Democrats while Paladino leads 83-13 with his fellow Republicans and 49-43 percent among the all-important independent voters, who could end up being a key swing voting bloc.
Only 18 percent of poll respondents said they consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement, but they overwhelmingly back Paladino 77-18. The Buffalo businessman also has a slight edge with men (49-46), while women are with Cuomo (54-34).
When it comes to favorability, Cuomo has the edge: 51-34 to Paladino’s 36-31, with 31 percent saying they don’t know enough about him to have an opinion. That leaves a lot of room for Cuomo and his allies to define Paladino – if they do it quickly.
Tea Partiers Push Lazio To Quit, Long Remains Optimistic
Sep 21st - 1:54 pm
A group of Tea Party activists has launched a Website in hopes of pressuring Rick Lazio to drop out of the general election and cede the state Conservative Party line and request that Row D and Row B be “unified under a single candidate.”
Although he’s not specifically mentioned, I’m assuming the candidate in question is Carl Paladino, who handed Lazio a humiliating defeat in the GOP primary last week and is also running on an independent Taxpayers Party line he created through a petition drive.
The site features the following form letter to Lazio:
“Thank you for stepping forward in the interest in public service again this year. You fought a hard campaign and allowed the people of New York to have their voices heard. Now that the people have spoken, it is time for us to unite.”
“In order for the conservative voters to have the best chance at winning the Governor’s seat in New York, we must unify the Republican and Conservative ballot lines. To this end, we respectfully ask that you honorably withdraw from the governor’s race and that you request that the lines be unified under a single candidate.”
“Without your assistance in this matter, we fear that our efforts to reform our state government will go unrewarded and New York will face another four years of tax and spend liberalism..”
“We, the undersigned conservatives, will either shout your praises from the rooftops for putting the needs of New York before your personal goals or we will hold you responsible for rejecting the will of the people and dividing the conservative vote this November.”
Mitt In NY
Sep 20th - 1:16 pm
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who for president in 2008 and is considered a likely contender in 2012, is spreading some love around in New York today, announcing endorsements in 10 House races.
Through his Free and Strong America PAC, Romney is backing the state’s two lone Republican congressmen – Pete King (NY-3) and Chris Lee (NY-26) – and eight challengers; Randy Altschuler (NY-1), John Gomez (NY-2), Michael Grimm (NY-13), Nan Hayworth (NY-19), Chris Gibson (NY-20), Richard Hanna (NY-24), Ann Marie Burekle (NY-25), and Tom Reed (NY-29).
The PAC has already sent each of Romney’s preffered candidates a $2,500 contribution for a combined total investment of $25,000 in Empire State Republicans.
“At a time when we need leaders who will enact pro-growth policies that will turn our troubled economy around and put people back to work, too many Washington politicians are instead focused on growing the size of government,” Romney said in a press release.
“New York – and our nation – deserves leaders who will put the interests of the people ahead of the special interests, and work to get our economy back on track. That is why I am proud to stand with these candidates today.”
Romney is in Central NY today to give an in-person endorsement to Buerkle at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Republican National Committee HQ in the Syracuse area. He will then headline a dinner organized by the Upstate Multi-County Committee of the state Conservative Party.
Rick Lazio is also scheduled to be on hand – his first appearance since being trounced by Carl Paladino last Tuesday – and is expected to announce he will remain in the race on the Conservative line (barring some major personal sea change).
Romney isn’t the only former presidential contender weighing in on upstate congressional races this week. Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been endorsing candidates throughout the cycle, is campaigning with Hanna in Utica Wednesday.
Long: Even Without Lazio, Conservatives Won’t Back Paladino
Sep 17th - 11:43 am
While insisting that Rick Lazio has every intention of continuing to run for governor on Row D, state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long told me his leaders are nearly united against GOP nominee Carl Paladino and won’t back him even if the Long Island congressman bows out of the race.
Long said he set up a post-primary conference call Wednesday in which all but one key party leader (Erie County Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo, who challenged Lazio for the party’s nod and lost) were invited to participate.
Some 47 leaders were on the line, and, according to Long, they were close to 99 percent in agreement on their opposition to Paladino.
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t looking into the mirror and hearing my own voice,” Long explained. “I said: ‘Guys, Rick is planning to move forward. Everyone is going to get a lot of pressure about endorsing Paladino and possibly moving Rick off the line. I’m of the view we have to continue to move forward.’”
Long said he then asked the leaders what they would want to do in the event that Lazio changes his mind and decides he would rather not campaign.
"While he strikes a chord on lots of issues that we stand for and believe in, they think, quite frankly, he is really irresponsible in his demeanor, in his character. They don’t want to have it written in history that he was their candidate."
"I was really taken aback. I didn’t lead the charge, all I did was open the book."
Brooks For Paladino
Sep 16th - 5:59 pm
As some Republicans can’t distance themselves fast enough from their controversial gubernatorial nominee, Carl Paladino, one GOP elected official who was once floated as a potential statewide candidate herself isn’t shying away from the Buffalo businessman.
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks was part of a group of 20 elected officials who met behind closed doors in Buffalo with Paladino today, YNN’s Casey Bortnick reports.
At that event, Brooks offered a formal endorsement of Paladino’s bid to defeat Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Andrew Cuomo in November, according to her spokesman Noah Lebowitz.
Brooks endorsed former Long Island Rep. Rick Lazio for governor back in February. Lazio, as you’ll recall, is still in the race – albeit just on the Conservative line.
In April, anonymous sources leaked Brooks’ name as a potential running mate for Cuomo. But that was shot down rather rapidly by both the AG’s campaign and the county executive herself.
Brooks is a rising star in the GOP, however, and her name often comes up when when various elected offices become available. She also decided against a run for former Rep. Eric Massa’s seat in NY-29 this year.
Dems Cut Lazio Out Of The Picture
Sep 16th - 1:46 pm
The state Democratic Party has re-released its “Albany swamp” ad, which used to feature both Rick Lazio and Carl Paladino and now, in light of his landslide GOP primary win Tuesday, only hits the Buffalo businessman as “part of the problem” in Albany.
Here’s a link to the old Lazio-Paladino video. And here’s the script of the new Paladino-only version, which, according to the party’s press release, will be airing statewide:
“Albany, a swamp of corruption. Special interests hand out money to the politicians and get back favors with your tax dollars. Like Carl Paladino. He’s given politicians almost half a million dollars.”
“And he gets over ten million dollars a year in government rents, and received over twelve million in tax breaks.”
“If you thought Albany couldn’t get any worse, Carl Paladino wants to be the Governor. Carl Paladino’s not part of the solution in Albany. He’s part of the problem.”
Edwards’ Choice
Sep 16th - 9:12 am
Here’s a rather bemused Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards yesterday discussing the fact that he’s now the running mate of BOTH Carl Paladino (on the GOP line) and Rick Lazio (on the Conservative line) – an only-in-New York sort of conundrum from which he hasn’t yet decided how best to extricate himself.
It’s also worth noting that Paladino’s preferred LG running mate, former NYC Council Minority Leader Tom Ognibene, is still on the ballot, too. He petitioned his way onto the independent Taxpayers Party line along with Paladino.
I don’t believe it’s possible to combine the votes you receive on multiple lines unless you’re running with the same person. (Election law experts, weigh in, please).
“Right now there’s so much, I’ll call it, dust in the air. So many issues,” Edwards told reporters.
“Only New York State could have this convoluted an election system that we could find ourselves here in this time and place having to make some difficult decisions about what to do next….It was a bittersweet evening, because my choice was to run with Rick Lazio, and I’m continuing to sift through the details now, following last night’s vote.”
Edwards said the campaigns need to make decisions “collectively,” and he’s interested in doing whatever is best for all New Yorkers.
Lazio Changes His Debate Tune (Updated)
Sep 16th - 9:02 am
I just got off the phone with state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, who told me he spoke to his gubernatorial candidate, Rick Lazio, late last night (yes, he’s still in the race, just taking some time off to regroup and be with his family), and the former congressman expressed a concern that he might be left out of the general election debates.
Say what?
Yes, you read that correctly.
The man who disdained debating back when he was the perceived frontrunner of the GOP gubernatorial primary – even when dogged by a woman (as it turns out) in a duck suit and heckled by Carl Paladino supporters – is now anxious to go mano-a-mano-a-mano with the Buffalo businessman and the Democratic frontrunner, AG Andrew Cuomo.
When I pointed out the hypocrisy of this sentiment, Long admitted in retrospect that it was “absolutely” a mistake for Lazio to eschew debates with Paladino prior to Tuesday’s primary contest. But he also insisted he hadn’t been involved in the decision-making process at that point.
That’s going to change now that Lazio is only running on the Conservative line, Long said. The two have also already had a discussion about reining in Lazio’s campaign spending – much of which was going to consultants, particularly Arthur Finkelstein, best known as former Gov. George Pataki’s political mastermind.
So, now, basically, what Long wants to know is if Cuomo is going to “pull a Lazio” and ignore both his GOP and Conservative Party opponents from now until the November elections.
That’s a good question.
I have yet to even get an official response from the Cuomo campaign about Paladino’s win, even though I’ve been asking for one since early yesterday morning.
It’s clear the Democrats are planning some form of general election engagement, (witness the statement released yesterday by state Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, who also did a round of media interviews – including on CapTon – to surrogate for the AG).
But it’s possible the AG himself is going to shy away as much as possible from direct involvement with the dirty work of campaigning, and it’s not even clear to me that they still consider Lazio much of a factor in the wake of his big loss to Paladino.
As Cuomo campaign spokesman Phil Singer told the Times: The best spokesperson to win votes for Andrew Cuomo is Carl Paladino. Our strategy is to just let him talk.”
UPDATE: Here’s the Cuomo campaign’s statement on debates, from spokesman Josh Vlasto: “We are open to debating and the campaigns will have to discuss the usual details.”
Long And Lazio Meeting This Morning
Sep 15th - 9:44 am
I caught state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long (thankfully, a very early riser) this morning as he was headed to a meeting with gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio for what he insisted is a post-primary meeting that was set up long before last night’s disastrous results for the former Long Island congressman.
“We were scheduled to meet early in the morning the day after the primary to do a bunch of things, and obviously those things have changed – you can figure that out – and so I’m going to have a conversation with him,” Long told me, speaking from his car.
Long said he has so far received no signal from Lazio that he would like to try to bow out of the race and get off Row D by being nominated for a judgeship in the wake of his stunning and decisive loss in the GOP primary to Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino.
The chairman said he’s not going to ask Lazio to get off Row D, and would prefer to wait and see what happens with Paladino – particularly when the Democrats start coming after him hard.
Long still believes Lazio is the right candidate, and having him on the Conservative line will give Republicans who grow disillusioned with Paladino a “place to go.”
Long rejected the idea that his days might be numbered as state chairman, insisting the party won’t have any trouble hitting the 50,000 mark with Lazio on its line in November in order to maintain its official ballot status.
“I’m still breathing, and I pinched myself this morning and I’m still alive,” he joked.
He also noted that he pulled off some big wins last night – particularly with Michael Grimm in NY-13, who trounced his GOP primary opponent, Michael Allegretti in spite of the fact that Allegretti was backed by the Republican establishment on Staten Island and the sliver of Brooklyn represented in the district.
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