Here's the 'Prince Andrew' ad hitting Cuomo for not investigating the Working Families Party. It's by New Yorkers for Growth, which was founded by Ed Cox, John Faso, and, while technically non-partisan, has lots of Republican ties.
The ad goes after Cuomo, but the group's main target is the W.F.P., who, in turn, released a statement Read More
The Working Families Party is calling on Andrew Cuomo to investigate John Faso for payments his law firm got as part of the Aqueduct deal."Faso and his partners were paid up to $600,000 of taxpayer money to protect the public interest. The mess of a bidding process that resulted raises the question: what did Faso Read More
Before he became famous for donning ridiculous mascot headgear to make his weekly picks on ESPN, Lee Corso coached the Indiana Hoosiers football team for ten mostly forgettable seasons.
One year, one of his overmatched squads managed to score an early touchdown against mighty Ohio State, grabbing a 7-0 lead - at which point Mr. Read More
ALBANY—In August, Larry Bulman wasn't convinced Bill Owens would win his race to replace John McHugh in Congress.
"It's simple: boots on the ground," Bulman, the Saratoga County Democratic chairman and the political director for the plumbers and steamfitters union, told me over lunch. "Which means union support. That's how we won Read More
Joe Mondello, the departing chair of the New York State Republican Party, announced he’s supporting Henry Wojtaszek, the chairman from Niagra County, to be his successor.
In a public statement, Wojtaszek said, “The Nassau County Republican Committee has long set the standard for local parties throughout the country, and I have no doubt Chairman Mondello Read More
ALBANY—The other day I wrote about the late State Senator Ron Stafford's campaign account, and how nearly $60,000 of it has been spent since his death in 2005.
It turns out there are lots of pots of campaign money out there, just sitting, some being spent, controlled by elected officials who have left office Read More
ALBANY—Republicans sources say that Ed Cox, the son-in-law of Richard Nixon and a longtime party activist, is now gauging support for a bid to become the state G.O.P. chairman.
"He has been approached by several party leaders and donors about running," Tom Basile, one of Cox's advisers, said.
I've heard from several prominent Republicans that Read More
ALBANY—Prominent Republicans around the state have spent the last several days digesting the report of the Eristoff Commission, which outlined an agenda for a stronger party moving forward, talked baldly about past mistakes, and has a recommendation that could be read as a charge against the current state chairman Joe Mondello.
Recommendation 6 would Read More
ALBANY—About 400 people attended last night's Conservative Party dinner at the Sheraton in midtown, including Erie County Executive Chris Collins.
It was Collins' first appearance at the dinner, Chairman Mike Long said, and he was seated at the head dais. Also up front was Rick Lazio, the former congressman who lost the Read More
Conservative author and former Port Authority head George Marlin is out with a piece criticizing Republican State Party chair Joe Mondello's performance and telling Republicans that if they are "to become relevant in New York's political arena, they must dump Mondello and install a new generation of leaders committed to a philosophy of smaller Read More
ALBANY—Add another voice to the list of Republicans calling for the immediate resignation of Joe Mondello as chair of the state party: State Senator Marty Golden.
"He should get out. It's time for him to step aside," Golden told me by phone, after expressing similar sentiments on Fred Dicker's radio show this morning. Read More
ALBANY—Assemblyman Jim Tedisco said there is no one to blame but himself for losing a Congressional bid that, by general consensus, was very winnable for a Republican candidate against the all-but-unknown Democrat Scott Murphy.
"I think, any time you lose an election it's basically the candidate's fault," Tedisco told me in Read More
ALBANY—Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco will be the Republican candidate to succeed Kirsten Gillibrand in Congress, he announced this afternoon.
"Assemblyman Jim Tedisco is going to be the same type of fighter for all of the people," he said outside the Capitol this afternoon, according to Kyle Hughes of
David Paterson has yet to call a Read More
ALBANY—The former executive director of Family Planning Advocates has joined the staff of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in the government relations department.
JoAnn Smith left the advocacy group this fall, and landed with Manatt, according to sources in the lobbying world and the firm's website.
It's the latest case of major firms bulking Read More
A major city Republican operative I spoke to earlier speculated that probably the best candidate to take over the State Republican Party is John Faso, the 2006 gubernatorial candidate, who also ran for state comptroller in 2002, and was the Assembly Republican Leader for years before that.
