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YR Governors' Endorsements for 2009
Oct 31, 2009

The New York Young Republican Club has a history of taking a stand on local campaigns and encouraging its membership and fellow New Yorkers to support the individuals that we believe can make a difference in New York.

This year, we are doing things a little differently. Rather than issue a Club release of those candidates our leadership has come to an agreement on supporting, a few of our leaders are issuing their individual support to show the diversity within our organization.

We hope that everyone goes to the polls and votes on November 3rd. Even if you are not pleased with the top of the ticket, there are our local candidates that have campaigned long and hard that need your support. We can bring about change by taking a stand and electing candidates that share our ideals.

Daniel Peterson

– President

Many Republicans are disappointed in the decisions our party has made during the year, where we had an opportunity to develop a clear message on what it means to be a Republican in New York. Even with some disappointment, we have a lot to be proud of.

This year, the Republican Party has put forth many strong candidates throughout the five boroughs for citywide office and the council and I encourage moderate to conservative voters should go to the polls and vote for these candidates. The more votes we get for the local seats, the better chances we have of winning them and expanding our voice within city government.

New York City
For one of our city-wide offices, I whole-heartedly throw my support behind Alex Zablocki for Public Advocate. Though I’m not a fan of the actual office, it is clearly an office for the conservative voice in this very liberal city. Alex has shown he understands the best way to utilize the office and by electing him, he will be in a position to be a foil for the city council or mayor.

When it comes to borough-wide seats, I will vote for Robert Hornak as President of Queens and throw my support behind Jim Molinaro as President of Staten Island. The borough presidency is the real advocacy office for our neighborhoods. The BP confronts proposed changes that may enhance or threaten our communities. Both Mr. Hornak and Mr. Molinaro are two candidates that will make the right decision in enhancing our boroughs with small businesses and fighting to prevent the wrong kind of development.

There are fifty-one city council seats and at least 35 will have Republican candidates running, more than likely as a challenger to a Democrat incumbent. I encourage republicans, conservatives and independents everywhere to vote Republican for city council and send a message that New York needs more balance. If there isn’t a Republican on the ballot in your district, candidates on the Conservative or Libertarian lines should get your support.

  • Ashok Chandra (CD-4). Ashok Chandra ran in one of the two Republican council primaries this year. His campaign attracted many young republicans and independents and this show of support brought on a victory by a 2-to-1 margin. Of all Manhattan Republican candidates, he has the best chance of winning and being the one Republican out of the ten districts.
  • Dan Halloran (CD-19). I will be voting for Dan on November 3rd and I encourage every Queens resident within the district to do the same. The local media had Dan win all the debates he participated in against the four Democrats before the Primary. Now he faces a tough battle against democratic winner where it is said he is not a resident of the district This isn’t new to Democrats as Ann Margaret Corrozza was also criticized for not living in the district she represents. Dan joins Senator Frank Padavan and Councilman Tony Avella in a stand against over-development in the district. The Democrat has connections with big time developers from Flushing could bring the kind of change to the district residents will not want.
  • Peter Koo (CD-20) He ran for State Senate a year ago and got 30.5% of the vote. This year, Peter Koo is running for the council seat, which is actually more beneficial to a conservative candidate. In 2005, our club’s former secretary Raquel Lacomba Walker ran solely on the Conservative Party line and got 14% of the vote. It was a huge victory for the Conservative Party and a big loss for the Republican Party, which chose not to back any candidate in that election cycle. This year, the GOP did not make the same mistake. Peter Koo will be the Republican and Conservative Party candidate and his chances of winning are within reach. As a small business owner, he relates to the many struggles residents of the district face. He has also received support from many Democrats in the district, while outgoing councilman John Liu hasn't even thrown support behind the unknown Democrat. Mr. Koo is the type of elected official the Republican Party needs in Queens. I fully support Peter Koo and I ask all of my Flushing friends to support him as well.
  • Bob Friedrich (CD-23) The district is known as the Weprin district. For many years it was Saul. Now it's Dave and Mark. It’s a family dynasty that has one brother swapping seats with the other. Since David Weprin ran for Comptroller and lost in the Primary, expect him to run in the Assembly Special Election next year to take on his brother’s seat, since brother Mark won the Primary for the council seat. Mr. Friedrich is a pragmatic Democrat who has a shot of breaking up the Weprin dynasty. He holds the right conservative values that a resident in the district should have whether Republican or Democrat and said he will caucus with whichever party that stands for a position that benefits the district. He will be elected as a Republican if he wins and I certainly support him for district 23.
  • Tom Ognibene (CD-30) Mr. Ognibene was my vote for mayor in 2005 and he is my choice for city council in this area of Queens. The seat is historically more conservative than others and Ognibene was the leading Republican in the City Council during the Giuliani years. His return to City Hall will be a huge boost for conservatives throughout New York City.
  • Eric Ulrich (CD-32) Mr. Ulrich has brought on some controversy among Republicans across the borough of Queens. We can only hope that the air will clear after next Tuesday. The one thing we can be certain about is that he represents his district well. After the Obama “high” four months before, Ulrich won a Special Election in a district dominated by Democrats nearly 3 to 1 and beat out three other candidates where one was another Republican! He has shown he has a base in the area and hopefully a full four-year term will help voter registration within the party.
  • Bob Capana (CD-43) Bob is a long time friend of the New York Young Republican Club and has put in his due for many years. He’s running in a council district held by a Republican in the 1990s and of the 16 districts, is the one we should fight to reclaim. I fully support Bob and hope a victory is in his sights.
  • James Oddo (CD-50) & Vincent Ignizio (CD-51) Staten Island has been duly served by electing and re-electing Republicans for two of its three council districts. Historically, it’s been the borough that gives Republicans a voice and I support it continuing to do so.

    Westchester County
    Our neighbors just above us have some wonderful candidates that deserve our support. If you live in Westchester, or have friends and family living there, please tell them that our Republican candidates deserve a vote.

    Rob Astorino (County Executive) We invited Mr. Astorino earlier this year to come speak to the membership of the New York Young Republican Club. What we heard is a bright and vibrant candidate who understands the role of county executive and what needs to be done to turn things around. Westchester has been plagued by high taxes and inexcusable moves by the Democrats in the legislature and the current executive, Andy Spano. It’s time for a change where real progress can create jobs and prevent residents from fleeing this beautiful area of New York State.
    Dan Schorr (District Attorney) Mr. Schorr also addressed our club’s membership this year and Westchester will be a better place to have a man focused on fighting crime and locking up those that do us harm. Janet DiFiore has shown her office is sometimes soft on crime and seems more interested in making deals than keeping criminals off the street. We cannot afford the continued regressive steps that could return us the 1970s.
    Susan Konig (CL-9) Another long time friend of many Young Republicans, Ms. Konig has the right fiscally responsible message Westchester residents can get behind. She gets my support and she deserves yours as well.

    Other Races
    November 3rd also brings an interesting campaign up in northern country, the 23rd Congressional District. It’s a three-way race between a Democrat, a Republican and a Conservative candidate. The Republican Party made a bad choice to replace Congressman Hughes and is paying dearly for it. The biggest issue that we will face once this race is decided will be the Employee Free Choice Act, or Union Card Check bill that would take away the freedom and personal liberty of employees all across America. The bill title is actually misleading, because what it will do is remove secret balloting. Without your vote’s right to privacy, your freedom of choice will be taken away. The Republican in this race supports the Employee Free Choice Act. Therefore, my support is fully behind Conservative Doug Hoffman. I ask all New Yorkers living in the 23-CD to vote Doug Hoffman on Tuesday.

    To all my New Jersey friends, don’t be fooled by the independent for Governor and cast your vote for Chris Christie. Christie has been wishy-washy in clearly stating how he plans to fix Trenton. However, I believe divided government works better than one-party rule and right now, both houses in the New Jersey legislature are and will be controlled by the Democrats. Christie can bring much needed balance to New Jersey politics and his record as a prosecutor should convince well over 50% of New Jersians to vote for him.


    Owen Heslin

    – Vice President

    The Republican Party actually made an effort this year to give voters a choice of voting for a qualified candidate on the Party line. It is for this reason I will stand with all of our Republican candidates with a few exceptions.

    For city-wide races, I will vote for Alex Zablocki for Public Advocate and Joe Mendola for City Comptroller. I abstain from the mayor’s race, because there is no one of interest in my mind.

    For borough-wide campaigns, I ask that you join me and vote for David Casavis in Manhattan and that you join and support our former YR president, Robert Hornak, for Queens Borough President.

    Our club did an outstanding effort in promoting Ashok Chandra for city council (CD-4) and I encourage voters to cast their ballots for him, as well as our other east side candidate Stephen Kaufman (CD-5).

    In Queens and Brooklyn, I support Dan Halloran (CD-19), Tom Ognibene (CD-30), Eric Ulrich (CD-32) and Bob Capanao (CD-43). If all get elected, New York will certainly see how Republicans can effectively bring real change.

    I also ask that voters go out and pull the lever for Rob Astorino (County Executive) and Dan Schorr (District Attorney) up in Westchester and Chris Christie (NJ Governor) across the Hudson. That is all.


    Ron Lewenberg

    – Treasurer

    Mayor
    I support Stephen Christopher, Conservative Party candidate for Mayor, to send a message of "no more" to Mayor Bloomberg's liberal ways and politics as usual in the NY GOP. Mayor Bloomberg joined the City Council in twice over-riding the will of the people in supporting the good-governance plan of term limits. Although I am personally agnostic on the issue of term limits, I will not support candidates who ignore the law. Despite not currently being a Republican and often supporting Democrat candidates over solid Republicans, Mayor Bloomberg managed to get the support of Republican County Leaders in NY this year, despite a grass roots opposition, which this club led. Mr. Christopher is the perfect candidate for anyone who is thinking of staying home this Tuesday.

    Public Advocate
    Alex Zabloki is a reform oriented Republican. Although I disagree with him on some issues, I am happy to support him as a voice for the hard-working citizens of NYC.

    Comptroller
    Joseph Mendola is a Financial Compliance Special running on fiscal accountability for Comptroller. He is well qualified and deserves our support.

    Borough Presidents
    I support David Casavis in Manhattan and Robert Hornak in Queens.

    City Council
    I will be voting Republican for city council and encourage everyone to vote for Ashok Chandra in the 4th district and Stephen Kaufman in the 5th district. I support the campaigns for Dan Halloran (CD-19), Tom Ognibene (CD-30) and Eric Ulrich (CD-32) in Queens, and our good friend Bob Capano (CD-43) in Brooklyn.

    NY-23 Congressional
    The decision our party leaders made in upstate New York was a huge mistake. I, along with many downstate Republicans, support the candidacy of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. He is a political outsider who holds the core values Republicans stand for. The Republican candidate is supported by ACORN and the Daily Koss. I've supported more liberal Republicans in the past, but in this case and for this race, a liberal candidate on the Republican line would be a huge mistake. Republicans in the 23rd congressional district need Doug Hoffman to win this election.

    Despite some of the decisions our party leaders have made in 2009, I do believe everyone is working towards the same goal of building a stronger Republican Party.

    Bryan Yurcan

    – Public Policy Chairman
    Comptroller, Public Advocate
    I support both of our Republican candidates, Alex Zablocki and Joe Mendola, as they are smart, capable and will bring much needed checks and balances to our overwhelmingly liberal city government.

    Borough President
    David Casavis and Robert Hornak. In largely middle-class Queens, Robert will be a good choice to fight for lower taxes and streamlined government, expecially when compared with do-nothing Helen Marshall.

    New York City Council
    Republicans hold merely 3 of 51 city counciul seats. The reason our city budget is massive and we are drowning in high taxes is because there is so few voices in the council who aren't completely in the pocket of public unions and other special interest groups. Our Republican candidates will fight for efficient, limited government, competent money management, and preserving quality of life in the city. They all deserve your vote for those reasons.

    Westchester
    As a successful businessman who hasn't spent his entire life in the public sector like Andy Spano, Rob Astorino is clearly the intelligent choice here. Spano, the snake, hijacked the Conservative Party line this year in a backroom deal and now is running on its line in this election. During his time as County Executive, the size of Westchester government has tripled under Spano, and the county is in the top 10 of highest property taxes in the nation. Not a good top 10 list to be on. Three cheers for Conservative chairman Mike Long to stand front and center to endorse Astorino.


    • by RepublicanInsurrection , Oct 31, 2009

    Hopefully Mayor Mike goes down in flames so that the GOP can actually begin rebuilding sooner rather than later.

    by BluejayNYC , Nov 3, 2009

    How can you all endorse a candidate for Public Advocate who actually wants to steal more of our taxpayer dollars to pay for a bloated, useless, wasteful, unnecessary office that no other city even has? You call him a real Republican, but our Mayor who has a record of keeping this great city safe and livable isn't Republican enough for you? Does no one remember or know about the bad old days of Dinkins? Does no one recognize the danger of going back there? If the mayoral race was a dead heat, I wonder if you would take such a stand. But no, you all figure Mike is a lock, so you have the luxury of taking this decadent self-righteous stand. So people like me do the pragmatic thing, vote for Mike, and allow you guys to feel smug as you continue to walk safely and confidently down the streets of the greatest city in the world. Meanwhile I also voted for Jim Lesczynski, Libertarian for Public Advocate. He has pledged to abolish the office - we need to take a stand against brazen waste. Happy Election Day.

    by daniel , Nov 5, 2009

    Hi bluejay.

    Firstly, I've met Alex countless times during this campaign and if you know anything about him, he was a wonderful candidate for this otherwise useless position.

    Secondly, the council and the mayor set the budget and the Advocate stands to the side and gets what is given him (or her). To say he would waste money is silly, since he has no control over whether or not his budget will be cut or increased.

    Many of us do remember the bad old days of Dinkins but no one here is advocating returning to those days. Actually, Dinkins first run for mayor was my first election of voting and I picked the eccentric Henry Hewes that year. :)

    If you can prove that a Thompson administration would reverse policies that have worked under Giuliani and Bloomberg, I'd love to hear or see it. No way in his right mind would he do such an idiotic reversal of good fortune for this city. At best or worst, a Thompson administration would be more equivalent to a Bloomberg or Ed Koch administration. You can't tell me he'd send us back to a Dinkins or Abe Beame. However, if he did, well then, I would bet the Republican Party would do exceptionally well in 2013.

    As for assuming Bloomberg was a lock, I cannot speak for my leadership, but I held onto the belief that Thompson had a shot. At one point when the race got as close as 48.8% to 48.1%, I thought a Thompson victory could happen. And I wasn't "scared." I actually thought, perhaps the official way of term limiting someone will actually work? Oh, but too many people I know voted for Bloomberg or Steve Christopher. hmm.

    And for abolishing the PA office, one of Mayor Mike's wonderful campaign comments was to propose a charter revision where perhaps the PA office would be abolished. Let's see if he lives up to this and actually makes the proposal.