Levy Says He’ll Run for N.Y. Governor as Republican (Update2)
March 19, 2010, 3:02 PM EDT(Adds Levy’s experience starting in 12th paragraph.)
By Henry Goldman
March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Levy, Democratic Suffolk County executive, said he would switch parties and run for the Republican nomination for governor of New York.
Levy, 50, chief executive of the Long Island county, has amassed a campaign war chest of more than $4 million and the support of Republican State Chairman Edward Cox. He would face Rick Lazio, 52, a former U.S. representative, also from Suffolk, in the event a Republican Party convention in June certifies him as qualified to run in a September primary.
“I am the only candidate who has balanced a budget, who has cut spending and taxes, who has said ‘no’ to the special interests and who has extracted concessions from public employee unions,” Levy said today in announcing his candidacy within view of the state Capitol.
The winner of the Sept. 14 Republican primary will face the Democratic nominee, who hasn’t been decided since incumbent Governor David Paterson withdrew his candidacy after coming under ethics investigations. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who hasn’t announced his plans, has raised about $16 million, according to the state Board of Elections.
Cox said Levy, whom he endorsed today, had already secured $1 million in fundraising commitments. He is backed by John Faso, the party’s 2006 gubernatorial nominee, as well as Suffolk County Republican Chairman John LaValle, who switched his endorsement from Lazio.
Gubernatorial Campaign
“Cuomo has never run an effective gubernatorial campaign, and he has not been the sheriff of Albany, as he promised,” said Cox, the son-in-law of former President Richard Nixon. “While the Democrats are investigating each other, Levy and Lazio will be conducting a publicly spirited debate on how to run this state.”
LaValle said he switched his allegiance to Levy because Lazio’s campaign failed to raise money or statewide enthusiasm. “On balance, Steve Levy is better suited for the challenges of governing the state,” LaValle said in a telephone interview.
Lazio’s campaign, which had about $637,000 as of Jan. 15, responded to Levy’s entry into the race by distributing an e- mailed statement describing him as “a supporter of Barack Obama” who “has been close to Shelly Silver,” New York’s Democratic Assembly speaker.
The e-mail included what campaign manager Kevin Fullington described as a “transcript of a wiretap of Steve Levy talking to people who would eventually be convicted of bribery,” in which Levy used “crass language” and criticized the Republican Party organization in the Suffolk County town of Brookhaven.
Release a ‘Smear’
Levy reacted with a statement describing the Lazio campaign news release as a “smear.” The wiretap transcript, Levy said, “despite the unfortunate salty language, shows how I was looking to replace the old corrupt guard with people of integrity and ability.”
Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state Democratic Party, described Levy’s conversion to the Republicans as a “cynical political ploy” in an e-mail today. He said it “reeks of the worst kind of political opportunism.”
Levy won about 96 percent of the vote running for re- election in 2007, with support from the Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties.
Edward Walsh, Conservative chairman of Suffolk County, credited Levy with closing a $238 million gap in the county’s $2.5 billion budget in 2003-04, and a $100 million deficit this year.
“He didn’t give the store away, and he didn’t raise taxes in six years,” Walsh said in a telephone interview. “He negotiated hard with the unions, cut spending and streamlined government.”
Illegal Immigrants
Upon taking office, Levy vowed to crack down on illegal immigrants, setting up a task force to identify unlawful foreign workers and the businesses that employ them.
To qualify to appear on the primary-election ballot, Levy, as a registered Democrat, must win support from more than 50 percent of the delegates at the Republican state convention, according to party rules, Cox said. The three-day convention will be held in Manhattan beginning June 1.
Although Levy today signed a document switching his allegiance to the Republican Party, it won’t become official until after the November general election, Cox said.
--Editors: Pete Young, Mark Tannenbaum
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
