Joseph Lhota. Photo by Andrew Hawkins
The city’s five Republican county chairmen plan to unite around a single candidate for New York City mayor sometime in early January.
But MTA chairman Joseph Lhota’s decision to resign and explore a run as a Republican, which offers what many observers see as the GOP’s best shot of winning in 2013, has so far only complicated matters for the GOP chairmen.
It’s unclear which candidates will end up running, but at least three chairmen are continuing to make firm commitments to contenders other than Mr. Lhota.
Jay Savino, the Bronx chairman, told The Insider on Wednesday morning that he is still “definitely with” former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, a Democrat turned independent who needs the support of three of the GOP chairmen to run in the 2013 Republican primary.
Queens Republican chairman Phil Ragusa told The Insider last Friday that he would back supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis if he runs.
And Manhattan GOP chairman Daniel Isaacs told Capital New York Wednesday, “If John Catsimatidis is running, he has my support.”
In an interview Wednesday morning, Brooklyn Republican chairman Craig Eaton, who has publicly supported Mr. Carrión for months, left the door open to backing another candidate. He said the field still needed to settle.
“One story about [Lhota] says he’s running, another says he’s waiting until after Christmas,” Mr. Eaton said. “It’s safe to say, as of December 19, he’s not a candidate.” Mr. Lhota announced that he would resign from the MTA on Dec. 31 and said he was still deciding whether to run for mayor.
The fifth chairman, Staten Island’s Bob Scamardella, has remained publicly neutral. Mr. Scamardella said last Friday that he was waiting to see whether Mr. Lhota or NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly would jump into the race. He did not return a request for comment on Wednesday morning.
Both Carrión supporters, Mr. Eaton and Mr. Savino, noted that neither Mr. Lhota nor Mr. Catsimatidis has sought their support. As MTA chairman, Mr. Lhota has been barred by state law from personally seeking the backing of county chairmen, but his supporters have also failed to do so, said Mr. Savino.
“I still haven’t heard anything from [Republican consultant] Anthony Carbonetti or any of the people involved,” Mr. Savino said. “I only know what I read in the newspapers, that he’s supposedly resigning.”
The backing of the Republican chairmen matters most for the two non-Republicans pursuing a GOP run, Mr. Carrión and Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith, whose candidacy has gained little traction. Mr. Lhota and Mr. Catsimatidis, as well as two other candidates, Doe Fund founder George McDonald and Manhattan Media publisher Tom Allon, are registered Republicans and eligible to run on the GOP line regardless of the chairmen’s decisions.
But it would behoove the GOP nominee to avoid spending money and getting nicked up politically in a primary.
“There’s no way we can have a primary,” said Mr. Savino. “It would just hand the Democrats a victory. And if we don’t get all five people to agree on a candidate, I’d be shocked.”
