Political Action Turns To Party Conventions Next Week

Queens Democrats, including party leaders, are poised to nominate Eliot Spitzer for governor at next week's nominating convention. If borough Republican leaders have their way, John Faso will be their party's choice to oppose Spitzer in November.

Spitzer, the frontrunner to take the gubernatorial crown and move into the governor's mansion in Albany, may have to go through the formality of disposing of Thomas Suozzi in the Democratic primary on September 12,

the Nassau County Executive goes through with his present plans despite the polls showing him very far behind the state attorney general.

Faso seems very likely to have to face William Weld in a primary when state Republican leaders meet at Hofstra University on Long Island next Wednesday and Thursday to designate their statewide slate.

State Senator Serphin Maltese (R-C, Middle Village), the Queens Republican leader, said in an interview that besides endorsing Faso, his county committee also endorsed John Spencer for United States Senator and Jeanine Pirro for attorney general.

"We went with Faso because he has been very loyal to our party and he lost to Alan Hevesi for comptroller by a very close margin, and might have won if he had a united party behind him," Maltese said.

"Also he stands for traditional family issues-against gay marriage and against abortion-and is very effective on fiscal matters, supporting tax cuts."

Maltese and Committee First Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone also noted that Faso has been endorsed by the state Conservative Party, enhancing his chances of winning because no Republican has been elected governor without the Conservative endorsement in recent years.

Democratic County Chairman Thomas Manton and the organization's local leaders met a month ago to endorse Spitzer for governor and state Senator Minority Leader David A. Paterson as his running mate.

The Queens Dems at that time also nominated United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Comptroller Alan Hevesi for another term and Andrew Cuomo to be the nominee for state attorney general.

Manton stated: "Our leaders endorsed our statewide slate unanimously and we are very confident that they will prevail in November, as will our state legislative incumbents. Our candidates designated to run for Assembly vacancies and for Civil Court judge will also win with unified and strong party support."

On Monday morning, the leaders also designated state legislative incumbents for re-election in the November elections as well as naming candidates to fill two Assembly vacancies.

Designated to run for Assemblymember Brian McLaughlin's 25th Assembly District seat in Flushing was Rory Lancman, a 37-year-old Fresh Meadows attorney and Democratic district leader.

Chosen to run for the 22nd AD seat, also in Flushing, recently vacated by Assemblymember Jimmy Meng, was Ellen Young, who is Councilmember John Liu's co-leader.

There's one other possible Democratic primary entrant-Terrence Park. He's Korean and says he can attract the heavy Korean vote in the district and win the seat.

Lancman may get primary challenges from Morshed Alam and John Dorsa.

Young may be challenged by Meng's daughter, Grace, an attorney, and by another Flushing co-leader, Ethel Chen, who comes out of the Democratic Club of Flushing.

The Democrats also designated two candidates for Civil Court judge positions. The first was Charles Lopresto of Astoria, a Democrat and brother of former Assemblymember John Lopresto, a Republican. The second is Lester Purificacion of Elmhurst, the law secretary to Surrogate Judge Robert Nahman.

CONVENTION FORECASTS: The Democratic conclave, it appears, will have only one rough spot to smooth over: the designation for attorney general, while the Republican meeting seems to be headed for a stormy session in choosing between Weld and Faso and another contentious deliberation selecting a designee for U.S. Senator. The choice lies between Spencer and Kathleen Troia (KT) McFarland, a former Pentagon aide during the Reagan presidential administration.

Cuomo, the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo, has been leading a quartet of challengers in the polls, fundraising and endorsements by party leaders. So basically, his opponents- Mark Green, Charlie King, Sean Maloney and Denise O'Donnell are in a fight to get 25 percent of the convention vote to earn a place on the primary ballot or face the difficult and expensive task of gathering nominating petitions to get on the ballot.

The forecast is that all will have difficulty getting 25 percent of the vote, except perhaps for Green, former New York City Public Advocate and unsuccessful mayoral candidate against Mike Bloomberg in 2001.

On the Republican side, there's a furious fight going on between Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts and Pataki's and state GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik's choice, and Faso.

Despite Weld's top-level support and better financing, he hasn't been able to shake Faso, whose many years as Assembly minority leader and Conservative bent are serving him well. Faso has won the Conservative Party endorsement and has been leading Weld in recent polls.

In the other contentious move for the U.S. Senate nomination, Spencer had the field to himself until McFarland surfaced about a month ago. However the New York society matron has not made any material inroads on Spencer, although he hasn't been a ball of fire, either. Their inability to gain any traction may well mean that neither has a chance against Clinton, so they haven't been able arouse any excitement.

Pirro has no visible opposition for her party's nomination for attorney general. There hasn't been much interest shown for the lieutenant governor and comptroller slots on the ballot among Republicans.

MAYOR ENLISTS SCHUMER: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is waging a campaign to stop the flow of guns into New York City, last week enlisted United States Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) in the Washington phase of the battle.

The mayor brought Schumer on board to fight weak weapons laws and the lawmakers who support them. A specific target is a three-part bill which prevents cops from pursuing rogue gun dealers and an amendment which bars federal agents from broadly sharing gun dealer information with local cops.

Schumer has introduced legislation to repeal the amendment and has put in a bill requiring local cops to report guns used in crimes to the feds and make gun trafficking a racketeering offense earning prison sentences up to 20 years.

On another front, Schumer announced that he is writing a book- not yet titled-in which he lambastes Democrats and Republicans for failing to come up with solutions to contemporary problems created by recent technological advances. He says the average American realizes that the world has changed, but the political parties have not.

NOLAN SCORES AS EDUCATION PANEL CHAIR: This was Assemblymember Catherine Nolan's first year as chair of the education committee and the Ridgewood lawmaker made it a memorable one. She was one of the key players in winning approval for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's huge school construction plan, which includes several new schools to be built in Queens.

But Nolan is just as pleased with what she achieved for libraries throughout the state. The 2006-2007 budget includes $5.7 million for libraries to keep their resources current and $14 million for construction projects and to invest in new educational technology, she reports.

Nolan is also boosting a new summer reading program for children, saying, "Reading matters. Children who read better do better in other subjects, and can better analyze, think and cope in our increasingly complex world."

MALTESE, SMITH HOST VETERANS AWARDS: State Senators Serphin Maltese (R-C, Middle Village) and Malcolm Smith (D-Jamaica) today will host the 12th New York State Awards presentation ceremony for Queens-area veterans. More than 100 Queens vets and their families will receive the New York State awards, including the Conspicuous Service Cross, Conspicuous Service Star, Medal for Merit, and Certificate of Valor, as well as the Presidential Memorial Certificate and in many cases "longdelayed, well-deserved medals and decorations."

The event takes place at the St. Albans VA Campus in Southeast Queens.

COUNCILMEMBERS GO AFTER BROADCASTER: City Councilmembers John Liu (D-Flushing), Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) and Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), incensed over a threat made in a broadcast from a local radio station to rape a 4-year-old child, have asked the owner of the station to donate $5.7 million to a foundation dedicated to protecting children from sexual predators.

In a letter to Lowry Mays, board chairman of Clear Channel Communications in San Antonio, Texas, the lawmakers declared:

"Uphold your founding principles. Don't make a mockery of them. Do the right thing. Fund efforts to protect children against the very threats Clear Channel has broadcast. And fund these efforts with at least the same amount your corporation has paid to produce these broadcasts."

The rape threat was made by deejay Troi Torain (aka "Star") on Power 105 Radio in New York City during the week of May 3 to 8, the lawmakers said. Torain has been charged by police with repeatedly threatening the child. Torain was set to earn $17 million over four years under a four-year contract; the councilmembers set the proposed donation at $5.7 million because that is what Torain earned over the past 16 months for "producing and broadcasting messages of hate and violence..." and other broadcasts racist in nature or inciting violence.