Thomas Dewey

As the screening panel starts interviewing comptroller candidates in order to pick the five people they'll recommend to the legislature for the position, here are a few predictions about who might make the cut:

Bill Cunningham, political consultant and former deputy mayor

Richard Brodsky Bill Mulrow Tom Dinapoli Martha Stark Joe Morelle

Says we may need to wait "for white smoke" to know when there is a winner.

Ryan Karben, lawyer, consultant and former Assemblyman

Tom DiNapoli Andrew Eristoff Dave Hancox Bill Mulrow Marsha Stark

Predicted winner: DiNapoli

Edward-Isaac Dovere, Editor of City Hall magazine

Martha Stark Tom DiNapoli Richard Brodsky William Mulrow Alphonse Fletcher

Frank Morano, outspoken Independence Party member

Tom DiNapoli Bill Mulrow Richard Brodsky Joe Morelle Martha Stark

"I think DiNapoli gets it in the end."

A junior assembly member

Bill Mulrow Tom Dinapoli Joe Morelle Andrew Eristoff Philip Latessa

A Democratic operative not associated with any candidate

Martha Stark Bill Mulrow Tom DiNapoli Richard Brodsky Joseph Morelle

Next comptroller: Morelle

An aide to a city official

Bill Mulrow Tom Dinapoli Howard Weitzman Alphonse Fletcher Philip LaTessa

A knowledgeable Brooklyn Democrat

"If Eliot Spitzer gets behind Martha Stark, it's hers."

A Brooklyn-based journalist with a twisted sense of humor

Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey's record as a fearless prosecutor and reform-minded governor will match well with the "new Albany" that Eliot Spitzer is trying to bring into being, while his reputation as a "wise old man" of New York politics is a nod to tradition. Since he's a Republican, albeit a liberal one, his appointment will strike a blow for bipartisanship, yet he can't beseen as threat to Spitzer's future ambitions, seeing as he's been dead since 1971. Ask yourself--would a dead Dewey really be any less dynamic than some of these stiffs they're considering?

Your predictions?

Update: The financial disclosure statements from the candidates are here.

-- Azi Paybarah

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All the attention in the 2006 race for State Attorney General has focused on the Democratic side: Cuomo, Green. (The Inner Circle called them "the unlikeables," but the Politicker likes everybody.)

Now we're starting to hear some buzz on the Republican side as well. Not everyone in the party establishment is on board with Westchester D.A. Jeanine Pirro as a candidate, concerned about her husband's legal problems and a potential tough reelection fight this year.  read more »

Meanwhile the Staten Island D.A., Dan Donovan, has been quietly testing the waters. He was in Albany recently meeting GOP State Senators, and went down to Washington yesterday to talk to members of the New York delegation.

"Dan has a good case to make," said a source in Donovan's camp. "He's the only Republican district attorney in the five boroughs, and probably the only one elected since Thomas E. Dewey."

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