Posted on 03/21/2010 8:02:51 PM PDT by neverdem
A day after being rejected by his own party’s chairman, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio secured the all-important backing Saturday from State Conservative Party leaders.
The Conservative Party Executive Committee met Saturday in Brooklyn, where it recommended the former Long Island congressman as the party’s candidate for governor.
The Lazio endorsement still needs to be ratified at the Conservative Party convention this spring, said Michael R. Long, State Conservative Party chairman.
“He’s got a lot of support among the leaders of the party,” Long said by phone after the meeting. “He’s been friends of the party for a long time, and we believe he is the best suited, the most consistent on where he stands on issues, and we were very proud to nominate him today. He’s going to be the Conservative Party nominee.”
The huge boost in momentum for the Lazio campaign was a slap at the Republican Party, which erupted in turmoil Friday, when, standing on the steps of the Capitol in Albany, Edward F. Cox, the state party chairman, endorsed Steve Levy, Suffolk County executive whose switch from the Democratic to Republican Party will not take effect until Jan. 1.
In an overwhelmingly Democratic state, winning the governorship without the Conservative Party’s endorsement is considered nearly impossible for a Republican.
Lazio told The Buffalo News late Saturday that the backing of Conservative leaders came with “no vacillation or equivocation,“ and was a “validation” of his conservative record through the years. “It was an important and bold statement,” Lazio said. “There is no question about my commitment to the core fiscal issues, and this is support from teammates who share those principles and values.”
At the Conservatives’ meeting, however, party leaders from Erie and Suffolk counties tried to persuade Long to delay the vote to provide an opportunity to interview Levy and Carl P. Paladino, a Republican businessman from Buffalo.
But the motion was defeated.
“We had a great debate,” Long said. “It must have went about two hours.”
“I’m disappointed about what happened today,” Ralph C. Lorigo, chairman of the Erie County Conservative Party, said Saturday. “In my opinion, my party needed to wait and interview all candidates. Many, many of the counties have not seen Carl Paladino.”
Paladino is expected to make his formal announcement for governor April 5, and Lorigo plans to take him throughout the state to meet Conservative leaders in hopes Paladino can still win the party’s nomination at the convention.
“Some of the people who didn’t get their way are not happy, but that’s politics,” Long said. “It’s clear a majority of the party rallied around Rick Lazio, and I’m happy with the outcome.”
jrey@buffnews.com and rmccarthy@buffnews.com
Great. Another RINO.
Why did you call Lazio a RINO?
Paladino would have been a better choice. He doesn’t mince words.
another election down the tubes and the campaign hasn’t even started yet.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Thanks for the ping!
No gay adoption or marriage; domestic partners OK. (Jul 1999)
http://www.ontheissues.org/Rick_Lazio.htm
That is quite a twist.
This too will pass. I spent the day with Carl and traveled to Rochester, we won over all the committeemen and Chairmen for the Republicans in that room. Lazio showed up at the end just to give his canned speech to them.
The Conservative endorsement is not a done deal. Their convention is in June and we have been working on the rest that didn’t vote for us.
I am 100% with Carl Paladino and will be with him for the rest of his campaign as we work our way across the state. The official announcement is April 5th and we will be on the road announcing across the state.
Carl Paladino WILL be the next Governor of NY and I will be with him in Albany and turn it upside down. Lazio and Levy are not any where near the caliber of Carl.
Your gonna see another Scott Brown campaign here except Carl Paladino is a Conservative. If he wasn’t I would not have drafted him.
Thanks for the link.
Is Paladino pro life?
I heard both Steve Levy (giving his best Chris Christie impression), and Rick Lazio on the Larry Kudlow radio show this Saturday. IMO, Levy came off like a fake, and Lazio was lackluster (at least Levy had a plan).
I am definitely looking for another candidate - but 3rd party endorsements usually work as a 2nd endorsement for a Republican. Also, as far as conservatism goes, you pay your money and take your chances with downstate Conservatives.
Regardles of who has the Republican nomination for Governor, if the Conservatives run their OWN candidate, Cuomo wins in a landslide.
Big mistake. Lazio is not a strong candidate.
Steve Levy is terrific at retail politicking, and, if he picks a good candidate from upstate, might even have a chance to take out Cuomo. Lazio...not really.
Please explain something to me:
I’ve been told it takes time to switch parties on your voter registration (almost a year?). How does Levy get to switch parties and be on the ballot for the opposite party right away? I know he has to get the petitions signed. It just seems that this is another one of those “inequities” for the voting public.
Not so fast...
Rattner, Cuomo Said to Be in Talks on Pension Probe (Update2)
When he ran for Congress a decade or so ago, he was pro-abort.
His REGISTRATION will become officially REPUBLICAN, a week after the general election of November 2010.
If LEVY gets 51% of the Convention vote of the Republican State Committee, he will be on the Republican ballot. He will not need petitions. Any Republican getting 25% of the vote at the Convention would also be on the ballot. Levy needs 51% because he is not a registered Republican. If he does NOT get that 51%, I don’t think he can then get petitions. I could be wrong, but his only way to get on the ballot is at the Convention
But any Republican NOT getting 25% of the vote at the Convention can then get petitions to get on the ballot.
And I will be praying to that end.....
I agree. Cuomo is NOT unbeatable. He has a lot of garbage. But I also think that if he is the NOMINEE, the Republicans and Conservatives MUST endorse the same candidate for Governor, and if they do, whether it is LEVY or LAZIO, that Republican has a decent chance to win.
But in a three way race, Cuomo the Dem, Levy the Repub, Lazio the Conservative, I see Levy and Lazio splitting the right of Center vote, and making Cuomo an easy winner.
But, Mewzilla, it would NOT shock me, if some other Democrat(s) come in to challenge Cuomo for the Democrat nomination. He ran once for Governor, so just remember what a failure, Cuomo’s 2002 race for Governor was.
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