Suozzi Makes Friends for Johnson

The Police Benevolent Association is endorsing Democrat Craig Johnson for state Senate today, which should help stave off the 'weak on crime' argument some Democrats are burdened with.

In what hardly seems like a coincidence, the agreement was announced one day after the PBA made peace with the county's top Democrat.

For years, the PBA has been at war with Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who is supporting Johnson in next month's special election against Republican Maureen O'Connell. The PBA-Suozzi fight started with a budget crunch that spiraled into negative attack ads (some of which are here) and cops accusing Suozzi, basically, of supporting criminals.

Yesterday, the two sides came to an understanding on staffing and budget issues.

One by one, Suozzi seems to be mending the relationships that were strained (or non-existent) when he was in his Democratic insurgent mode. It's almost like he's planning to stick around for a while.

-- Azi Paybarah