James Ortenzio

The former Manhattan Republican Chairman James Ortenzio just pleaded guilty to tax evasion, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.

From a press release that just went out:  read more »

Earlier, I noted that James Ortenzio stepped down from his post as Chairman of the New York Republican County Committee and as finance chair for the state Republican Party.

Earlier this week, one of those positions was filled when Jennifer Yaffa was elected to chair the Manhattan party.

As for the finance post... Nothing yet.

State party spokesman Tony Santino told me yesterday the position is still vacant. He said it would filled by appointment by the state party chairman, but he declined to float any names.

Sigh.

-- Azi Paybarah

A blog on Urban Elephants reports that James Ortenzio is resigning from his post as chairman of the New York Republican County Committee, and that he may also be stepping down from his post as state party finance chairman.

I haven't been able to reach Ortenzio on his cell phone or at his office to confirm. When I asked state party spokesman Tony Santino if Ortenzio was still Manhattan chair, he said, "I've heard nothing to the contrary."

If it's true, though, here's why it might make sense: Ortenzio is a Pataki ally who backed Bill Weld for governor and KT McFarland for Senate. Both lost to more conservative candidates, and the new state party chairman, Joseph Mondello, was not particularly close with Pataki.

Also, Ortenzio is reportedly the subject of an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney for allegedly filing misleading financial statements with the state.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Ortenzio, who confirmed that he resigned as state finance chair and Manhattan county chair at the beginning of the year. Local Republicans could vote for a new county chair as early as next Tuesday, he said.

"There are no '07 elections, '08 is a presidential election, '09 is a city election. So it's perfect timing," Ortenzio said when reached by cell phone.

He also said he will help raise money for next month's Lincoln Day Dinner, explaining, "I pass it, I don't flip it in the air for someone to catch. This baton will be easy to grasp."

He said the reported investigation had nothing to do with the timing of his decision.

-- Azi Paybarah

And on the subject of Republican leadership...

Manhattan GOP Chair and medieval cartography expert James Ortenzio - an early Bill Weld supporter - wants to know why John Faso isn't getting more help from the county leaders who claim to be in his camp.

"They're the ones who said last September that a primary would vitiate our resources," he said, referring to the Faso supporters. "That presupposes that there are resources. Let's see them."

As evidence that Faso isn't getting a level of backing befitting a party nominee, Ortenzio said, "I don't think his filing was particularly healthy. I don't hear of too many events coming up in the future. I don't hear too many statements of support - and he has some major counties supporting him. So what are the Republicans doing for John Faso?"  read more »

Anyone?

-- Josh Benson

Manhattan GOP chairman James Ortenzio, one of KT McFarland's strongest backers, has apparently asked her to drop out of the race after lackluster fund-raising and the airing of ugly family business that has distracted and damaged her flagging campaign.

McFarland's press secretary, Morgan Ortagus-Dobbs, denied any notion of pressure from Ortenzio.

"I just asked KT," said Ortagus-Dobbs after putting the Observer on hold. "And she said she has received no such phone call."

Mike is doing his best to remove the feeding tube, as it were, from Tom Ognibene's campaign for Mayor, which has struggled to gain traction despite the dissatisfaction on the Mayor's right.

Today, the chairman of the Manhattan Republican Party, James Ortenzio, sent a letter to the city's Campaign Finance Board asking that Ognibene be disqualified from the CFB-backed debate in Harlem because he doesn't meet one of the technical requirements for qualifying, showing up with at least 5% support in a poll of at least 1,000 voters.

Ognibene's name hasn't been included in a poll of that sample size, and he has shown up at 1% and 2% in smaller polls.

"Please note that the absence of a qualifying poll for Mr. Ognibene is due to the fact that his public support is insignificant," Ortenzio writes. "Indeed, in a September 27, 2005 Marist poll which surveyed 721 registered voters, of which 381 were likely voters, Mr. Ognibene only polled at 2% and 1%, respectively. If one subtracts the margins of error (4% and 5% respectively) as required under the MOU, it would result in negative levels of support."  read more »

Hard to believe the CFB will back down on this one, but it does allow the Bloomberg campaign to, again, raise the spectacle of Freddy alone on stage. It's also a demonstration of how the resource-rich Bloomberg campaign is able to fight for every inch of ground on all fronts.

From today's AP follow on the state GOP's decision to give the Log Cabin Republicans a seat on the party's executive committee.

"Whether it's a log cabin, a yurt, an igloo or a split-level, we've got room for every kind of housing no matter how you depict yourself in terms of your belief,'' says State Republican Party leader James Ortenzio.  read more »

He added that State Senator Serph Maltese, the anti-Log Cabin Republican voice, "turned himself in one minute from the Maltese Falcon to some form of domestic poultry."

When James Ortenzio became chairman of the Manhattan Republican Party in May, he took over a franchi  read more »

According to the secret grumblings of top Albany insiders, the lastplace Gov.  read more »