January 18, 2005 >
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Revolt in Rockaway

Revolt in Rockaway

BY John P. Avlon
January 18, 2005
http://www.nysun.com/article/7878

Last Tuesday night, just hours after Mayor Bloomberg finished giving his fourth State of the City address in the Bronx, on the opposite side of town a group of more than 100 Republicans met at the Belle Harbor Yacht Club in Rockaway. It was billed as a Downstate Grassroots Republican Summit, but what was supposed to be a party building unity rally quickly turned into a Bloomberg-bashing session that spells out serious trouble for the mayor as he seeks re-election.

It was after receiving an enthusiastic reaction at the raucous Rockaway meeting that a former City Councilman from Queens, Thomas Ognibene, went home to his wife and told her he had decided to run for mayor.

As the Bloomberg campaign gets underway with the recent hiring of Democratic operatives such as press aide Stuart Loeser from the staff of Senator Schumer and field director Patrick Brennan from the Health Workers Union 1199, Republicans in the so-called outer boroughs are at the boiling point from lack of attention from the Bloomberg administration.

There were no shortage of heated speakers at the three-hour meeting, which in addition to Mr. Ognibene included another prospective Republican primary challenger to the mayor, investment banker Steven Shaw. Other speakers included Mr. Ognibene's successor from his council seat, Dennis Gallagher, State Senator Serphin Maltese, one-time Senate-hopeful Michael Benjamin, chairman of the Young Republicans of New York Robert Hornak, and moderator Patrick Hurley, president of the Regular Republican Club of Woodside, Queens.

The meeting was hosted by the Rockaway Republicans, a 10-month-old organization that has grown rapidly despite the fact that it is so far unrecognized by the state party. The Rockaway Republicans include many former Democrats who switched their registration after the attacks of September 11, including the club's president, Thomas Lynch, a former firefighter, who describes himself as "a recovering Democrat" and a "9/11 Republican." "I'm more comfortable being a liberal Republican," explains Mr. Lynch, "than a member of a party that has moved so far left."

Rockaway Republican Club Vice President Stewart Mirsky said he was surprised at the anti-Bloomberg tenor of the meeting. "A lot of the opposition is coming from social conservatives," says Mr. Mirsky. "They say that Bloomberg is a Democrat in Republican clothing, which is not entirely false. There is a strong feeling that the mayor is not true to Republican principles." When asked if he felt the mayor could lose the Republican primary nomination, Mr. Mirsky replied, "I do think there's a chance, to be honest with you. It is a little troubling because we do not want to see a Republican lose control of City Hall."

It is deja vu all over again for those who remember the 1969 mayoral race, in which John Lindsay lost the Republican nomination to a socially conservative state senator from Staten Island, John Marchi. One of Marchi's then-campaign aides is now the Queens County GOP Leader, state Senator Serphin Maltese. Mr. Maltese has indicated his intention to stand by the mayor, but Staten Island Councilman James Oddo, minority leader of the City Council,is believed to have been quietly encouraging Mr. Ognibene's challenge to the mayor. Mr. Oddo has often feuded with the mayor since he refused to support the administration's tax increase, and Mr. Ognibene and Mr. Oddo are sometimes described as having a close "father/son"-style relationship. It is a role he has played for many New York conservatives, serving as the Republican City Council minority leader during much of Mayor Giuliani's term in office.

"I was part of the conservative movement in the 1970s that helped turn the city, state and nation around," explains Mr. Ognibene, "We elected Rudy Giuliani and we saw what a Republican agenda could do." But like many of his fellow Queens conservatives, Mr. Ognibene believes that Mr. Bloomberg has abandoned the party and seems embarrassed to be a Republican. "We are entitled to have a titular leader who respects us and doesn't just use us to further his own agenda," Mr. Ognibene says, while being quick to assert, "This is not a personal attack on Michael Bloomberg. I respect him as an individual and he's a wonderful philanthropist." It is worth noting that the national, state, and local Republican Parties have been the considerable beneficiaries of Mr. Bloomberg's philanthropy in recent years. Nonetheless, Mr. Ognibene had explored challenging the mayor in the past, but Tuesday night's meeting proved to be a tipping point. "I went down there as just another concerned Republican," Mr. Ognibene said. "But as I spoke, people clapped, people applauded, all of a sudden people were invigorated that there were leaders talking about the Republican agenda, I think they were inspired and I was inspired...So I went home and talked it over with my wife and that's when she said "follow your heart." It's the right thing to do. I'm doing it for the right reasons...I'm running a principled race. This isn't about winning."

Patrick Hurley, president of the Regular Republican Club of Woodside, warmly welcomed the news that Mr. Ognibene was entering the race. "I'm very excited that Tom Ognibene is running - it will do a lot to revitalize the Republican Party." Mr. Hurley said. "We have to set up the sign that the Republican Party is not for sale."

These deepening interparty divisions follow the same fault lines that bedeviled John Lindsay a generation ago - a liberal Republican mayor from Manhattan who is seen as out of touch with the more socially conservative values of outer-borough Republicans. In a 10% turnout primary election, otherwise fringe candidates can dominate the playing field, as the Lindsay administration found out. In Lindsay's case, he was able to run on the Liberal Party line after losing the Republican nomination. With Mr. Bloomberg's virtually unlimited self funded campaign war chest, he is unlikely to lose the nomination, but if the worst should occur, Mr. Bloomberg's only default position will be to run as an incumbent on the Independence Party line, a position complicated by the local party leadership dominated by Leonora Fulani.

As the election year gets underway, Mr. Bloomberg finds himself under attack from both the left and right. It is the multiple firing lines from his supposed allies in the Republican Party that should cause the most concern. In the general election, Mr. Bloomberg needs a strong turnout from Staten Island Republicans and socially conservative Democrats and Republicans in Queens - precisely the areas that expressed the strongest displeasure at this Rockaway rebellion.

This Republican rebellion at Rockaway should serve as a strong wake-up call to the Bloomberg administration. They need to reach out more aggressively to grassroots Republican clubs or risk seeing this rebellion flare up and present a real threat to their re-election hopes. The situation is not un-resolvable, but it requires direct attention and intervention. While the mayor was off giving his State of the City speech in the Bronx and appointing high-level establishment Democrats to his campaign, the Republican natives are getting restless. A look at the electoral map should show the mayor and his campaign aides that he cannot win without their support. What Republican regulars need to ask themselves, in turn, is whether ideological purity is more important than retaining some semblance of power in City Hall.