Republican Blogger Mondello Pile-on

Some people just don't want Joe to head the party.
Here are three posts from the blog 'Musings of a New York College Republican.'

"Monday, November 27, 2006
Sickening
Details are still coming in about the heavy-handedness that ended the grassroots candidacy of Bob Smith for the NYGOP chairmanship. Capital News 9 offered a disturbing observation:
The chairs said Joseph Bruno was putting pressure on [R]epublican leaders statewide that would keep their short-lived insurgency from succeeding. This is truly sickening. Only the most corrupt, out-of-touch politicos would fear open debate with such dread."

"Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Is this appropriate?
State committee is using party money to promote Mondello for chairman."

"Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Joe Mondello's Commute
Per Mapquest, if Joe Mondello becomes state chairman, he'll face a three hour commute (without traffic)."
If you look closely at the route, you can see a message spelt out: PART-TIME CHAIRMAN."

Read the comments section too.

More County GOP Chairs Oppose Mondello

From Capital News 9 "....But, a number of county chairs raised objections, citing Mondello's reluctance to give up his Nassau County post if he were to win the state party position.

“We really need a full-time state chairman, somebody who is going to be able to travel the state to help rebuild the party and get us built up for our local elections, the next cycle. And, we're always looking to the next cycle, '08, as well,” Wayne County GOP Chair Dan Olson said.
“This party, the republican party in New York, is in the deep wilderness now. And, it needs to have good leadership to get out of the wilderness. New York State needs to have a strong republican party,” former senatorial candidate Ed Cox said.
"Those challenging Bruno's choice decided to throw their support to former Onondaga County chair Bob Smith. Smith said the party is in desperate need of rebuilding—a rebuilding based on a return to its core beliefs.

“There are some things worth losing for. Our losses in this last campaign weren't worth losing because what we lost was our identity. We need to reestablish that. The grassroots in this state, grassroots republicans, are solid. They know where they're at. We have to put them back in power in the party and reestablish our position,” former Onondaga County GOP Chair Bob Smith said.
However, within a matter of hours, the Smith candidacy was withdrawn, and the challenge was dropped. The chairs said Joseph Bruno was putting pressure on republican leaders statewide that would keep their short-lived insurgency from succeeding.

The New York State Republican Committee meets on Thursday to formally vote on the party chairmanship."

Conservative Newsday Columnist Comes Out Against Mondello

Raymond Keating says Mondello is the wrong guy..."Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Bruns-wick) has turned to Mondello to get things on the right track. But Mondello's record offers little evidence that he can turn the party around.
After all, the Nassau County Republican Party was a nationally recognized political machine when Mondello took the helm in 1983. But in recent times it has crashed and burned into a smoldering political mess. For example, Nassau Republicans have lost control of the county legislature, the executive seat, the district attorney's office, the comptroller's job and the assessor's position, as well as the North Hempstead Town Board and a congressional seat.
Yet, somehow the New York Republican brain trust figures that the best man to lead the state party out of the wilderness is the same person who played a key role in Nassau Republicans' losses. Does this really make sense to anyone outside of the political bunker where the New York Republicans apparently are hunkered down?"

I will once again say that I support Joe Mondello for State GOP Chair.
He did it in Nassau and he can do it in State-wide.

Mondello Has a Challenger for NYS GOP Chair

Elizabeth Benjamin writes in the Albany Times-Union "A battle is brewing for control of the state Republican Party, with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on one side and a former upstate GOP county chairman on the other.
Bob Smith, who led the Onondaga County Republican Party for five years, said Wednesday he is "very much leaning" toward running against Bruno's handpicked state chairman candidate, Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello.
"Smith said his chief qualms about Mondello are that his candidacy originated at the top of the party, not with its grass roots, and that he wants to simultaneously serve as chairman of both the state and Nassau County parties.
"We certainly can't have a chair who serves two masters; that didn't work out so well the last time" said Smith, noting that outgoing state Chairman Stephen Minarik divided his time between the state and Monroe County GOP parties. Minarik presided over the party's loss of every statewide office on Nov. 7.
"The Republican state committee will vote for a new chairman next Thursday using a weighted vote based on turnout in the last gubernatorial election. Historically, Mondello himself has controlled the largest share -- 10.45 percent -- although the new weighted vote will be based on this year's election results and has not yet been finalized.
"We're confident that he has more than enough support to be the next state chair," said Anthony Santino, Mondello's spokesman.
"Some Republicans have also grumbled that Smith saw losses in local races while county chairman. But the same complaint has been made about Mondello, who in 2001 presided over the GOP's loss of the county executive's office to the Democrats for the first time in 30 years."

Happy Thanksgiving

As we count all the things we are thankful for, lets remember those who are just thankful for thier next meal or a roof over thier heads.

Please give if you can...

Long Island Cares - The Harry Chapin Food Bank

New York City Coalition Against Hunger

United Way of Long Island

Society of St. Vincent DePaul

Salvation Army

The Incredible Shrinking Nassau GOP

The decline of the Nassau GOP comes as voter enrollment for Democrats increases.
Here are a few numbers from the NYS Board of Elections

Nov 1, 2006
Reps - 354, 718
Dems - 326, 411

Apr 1, 2006
Reps - 358, 848
Dems - 325, 788

Reps lose 4130
Dems gain 623

From last year....

Nov 1, 2005
Reps - 358,848
Dems - 324,406

Reps remain steady while Dems gain 1382

From Nov 1, 2001 when the Democrats win the County Executive seat
Reps - 370, 397
Dems - 295, 191

From Nov 1, 1999 when the republicans lost the County Legislature
Reps - 368, 694
Dems - 269, 522

Since the election that pushed the Democrats to the top of the political structure in Nassau, Reps have lost 13,976 while the Dems have gained 56,889.
The Reps gained 1703 from 1999-2001 but dropped 11,549 from 2001-2005
From 1999-2001, Dems added 25,669 voters and added 29,215 from 2001-2005

The registration difference was in the republicans favor in 1999 by 99,172 voters.
By 2006, the difference was only 28,307.

The deciders of any election right now are the "blanks" who have 193,962 voters as of Nov 1, 2006.

An Interesting Take on a Mondello Chairmanship from The Community Alliance

NY Dems: Hold On To Your Lawn Signs. . .
. . . Here Comes Joe Mondello

When this blogger first got word that Nassau County Republican Committee Chair, Joseph Mondello (not only his picture is fuzzy), had his eye on the State's top GOP post (which, come January, will no longer be Governor), I both laughed and gasped at the same time. [Try doing that while standing on your head and drinking a Yoohoo...]
Joe Mondello, lynchpin of the Nassau County GOP machine; king over the fiefdoms at the County (and town) special districts; orchestrator of the near fatal dissent of America's wealthiest county into the financial abyss; the man who brought you Tom Gulotta, Kate Murray, and the two Peters (King and Schmitt).
Yes, that Joe Mondello. Losing it all but for his Svengali-like stranglehold over Town of Hempstead voters (who must all have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and fifth cousins three times removed somewhere on the Town payroll), and those entrenched State Senate seats that never seem to shift, come high tide or high taxes, Mondello would now do for the State of New York what he has done for Nassau County.
Hold on to your hats, New Yorkers. Better still, hold on to your lawn signs. Once Mondello takes the top GOP spot, as it appears he will (desperate times call for even more desperate measures), no Democrat is safe from having her lawn sign stolen or defaced, and no taxpayer's wallet secure from the smoke and mirrors politics that good old Joe is famous for here on Long Island -- the kind that willingly borrows, carelessly spends, and never raises taxes to cover the bet.

Read the rest at the Community Alliance blog...

Mondello Chairmanship Faces Alot of Republican Criticism

With Mondellos reputation of losses, this is hardly a suprise.
We of course reiterate our whole-herated support for Modello and his bid to be NYS GOP boss.
From the NYSun "Some Republican county leaders around the state say they are uncomfortable with Mr. Bruno's choice of Joseph Mondello to run the party's headquarters in Albany, and they are criticizing the Senate leader for not consulting them before announcing his support for Mr. Mondello.
While the unrest among Republicans at this point is not seen as a serious threat to Mr. Mondello's bid to become state chairman, the complaints against Mr. Mondello are proving to be the first real test of Mr. Bruno's ability to dictate the direction of the state party since he emerged on Election Day as the one surviving Republican force in Albany.
"Still, a number of Republicans are questioning the wisdom of choosing as its state chairman a leader of a county that has come to symbolize the Republican Party's implosion in New York. Under Mr. Mondello's watch, Nassau Republicans have lost control of the county executive and district attorney offices and the county legislature, as Republican enrollment has stagnated.
Republicans say they are also concerned that Mr. Mondello is refusing to give up his post as county chairman if he's elevated to the top party position. One of the major criticisms of the outgoing state party chairman, Stephen Minarik, who also doubled as a county party chairman, was that he failed because his local work took greater priority than his work as state chairman."

From republican blog Musings of a New York College Republican "They said Bill Weld would be our nominee, too
The Sun is reporting increased resistance to the efforts by L'Establishment to shove Joe Mondello down the throats of the remnants of the NYGOP. Thank God. Onondaga Chairman Bob Smith had this to say of the cinematic magic being attempted by Albany:
"Somebody in Albany says they've made a decision, we're going to write a script and hand it to you," Mr. Smith said. "I'm not sure we're going to let that happen."
NYCR operatives across the state report increasing resistance to the move, as more and more chairmen have been apprised of the decay that the Nassau GOP has experienced under Mondello's watch. Concern is also growing over speculation that Mondello will pull a Minarik and refuse to step down as the Nassau GOP chairman. Let's face it: we don't need another part-time chairman, and that's what Joe Mondello would be.Just remember: there was a time when these thinkers who constitute the Establishment said that Jeanine Pirro would be our nominee for US Senate. They said it was unthinkable to imagine anyone besides Bill Weld getting the gubernatorial nomination. And now, they say we're powerless to determine who gets installed as our next party chairman. With courage and determination, we can keep their losing streak going. Call your county chairman today, and tell them that if you want Joe Mondello to be your chairman, you'll move to Nassau County.

Mondello Gets Backing to be New York State GOP Boss

The Albany Times-Union is reporting that Mondello has the support of out-going Chairman (and complete failure) Minarik and State Senate Majority Leader Bruno.


Minarik/Bruno Formally Back Mondello
November 13, 2006 at 11:46 am by Elizabeth Benjamin
State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, have released a joint statement formally announcing their support of Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello as Minarik’s replacement at 315 State Street (where Web site updating has clearly not been a top priority since Nov. 7).
Bruno praised Minarik’s work in the chairman’s post since 2004, and said: “We could not have maintained our Republican majority in the state Senate without him.”
Minarik said he is leaving with “mixed emotions,” but knows the party will be “in good hands.”
As for Mondello, Bruno said that “no one is better suited” to lead the party’s rebuilding effort.
“He has lead the Republican Party in Nassau County for over two decades, he is a strong leader with tremendous ability to organize and energize the party in good years and in tough ones,” Bruno said.
“Joe Mondello is clearly the best person to lead the rebuilding of the Republican Party in New York State, to help strengthen our majority in the Senate, add seats in the Assembly, take back seats in Congress and win races at the local level throughout the state.”
Bruno’s selection of Mondello - which is not a done deal and won’t be until the GOP state committee members get together and vote on Nov. 30 - is being viewed in certain circles as a move by the senator to insulate himself from a potential power grab by state Sen. Dean Skelos, a Nassau County Republican who has long coveted the majority leader’s job.
Skelos, I’m told, isn’t even in the state - he’s relaxing in St. Martin and wasn’t planning any immediate coups.
Making Mondello state chairman could also be seen as a win for former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, another Long Island Republican.

NYTimes: 'G.O.P. Worries About Effects of State Losses'

'G.O.P. Worries About Effects of State Losses'
"Last week’s losses by New York Republicans are finally sinking in: Democrats swept every statewide office for the first time since 1938. Eliot Spitzer amassed a record 69 percent landslide by winning 59 of New York’s 62 counties. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton carried all but four. Three House seats changed hands, consigning Republicans to their smallest share of the state’s Congressional delegation ever.
And if those results were not grim enough for New York Republicans, they also worry about their longer-term prospects.
Party officials fear that their shrinking political base will enable Democrats to wrest control of the State Senate in two years and complete their sweep of statewide offices and both houses of the Legislature for the first time since 1934, in the early days of the New Deal.
“The party’s not dead, but if the Democrats take the Senate out, it will be pretty close to dead,” said Alfonse M. D’Amato, a former United States senator.
Mr. D’Amato expressed concern that last week’s losses were not merely cyclical, but potentially more fundamental and forbidding, a conclusion echoed by others — particularly if the Democrats control legislative and Congressional reapportionment after the 2010 census."

Joe Mondello for New York State GOP Chairman

If I had a vote, Mondello would get it.
Mondello could do for the state party what he did for the nassau party.
That is oversee its death.

Here is an opposing view by a republican over at Musings of a New York College Republican...
See the website for the full post.
"Joe Mondello's Nassau County
What was once one of the strongest Republican machines in the country has imploded under Mondello's watch. This post is hardly the first documentation of the decay that the Nassau GOP has experienced. In its coverage of the 2005 supervisors race in Hempstead, Newsday titled their piece about the Nassau Tragedy "The Incredible Shrinking Elephant". The GOP was single-handedly responsible for a$200 million deficit and a costly, expansive patronage mechanism, which lives on in the few offices that Republicans have retained. True, there's only so much that can be expected of the county chairman, but when you're auditioning for the role of last hope to the state party, we have every right to set that bar high.
Recall Mr. Mondello's performance in the Hofstra gymnasium last June: at a time when the NYGOP needed to be decisive in its selection of a gubernatorial candidate, Joe Mondello split his delegation 50/50, making for an anti-climatic conclusion of a vote which John Faso had otherwise won by a landslide. What indication has Mr. Mondello given the state that he'd be able to provide decisive leadership when necessary? If he couldn't pick sides in the gubernatorial race, can he be counted on pick sides when it comes time to force state legislators and their county chairs to cooperate? (I'm looking in your direction, Broome County!) We need a skull knocker, not a backrubber.....
Here are some other facts about Joe Mondello's Nassau County:
The Republicans lost their majority on the County Legislature in 1999 after one hundred years of control; the afore mentioned patronage and associated budget deficit were amongst the issues that swept the Democrats into power.
Even after being kicked out of power at the county level, excessive Republican patronage remains out of control at the city and town level as Mondello's fiscal conservative nature has found itself sequestered in the chairman's office.
Projections by NYCR staffers reveal that by the end of 2009, the Republican enrollment advantage in Nassau County will have disappeared entirely.
The party allowed the candidacy of an ambulance-chasing county legislator to metastasize into a credible threat against Peter King, whose re-election shouldn't have been of concern.In short, Joe Mondello has presided over a county organization that's lost the trust of the people, just as George Pataki and Steve Minarik have. His election to the chairmanship will not be conducive with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the NYGOP."

New York State Assembly Results

UPDATE: For 2008 results please go here


Incumbents both Reps and Dems hold on one more election cycle.
Winners - Dems in Blue, Reps in Red

State Assembly - District 12
Saladino, Joseph - 23,130 66.63%
Heller, Craig - 11,584 33.37%

State Assembly - District 13
Lavine, Charles - 23,122 65.75%
Gonzalez, Steve - 12,043 3 4.25%

State Assembly - District 14
Barra, Robert - 19,767 58.94%
Torres, Daniel - 13,771 41.06%

State Assembly - District 15
Walker, Rob - 408 59.08%
Pangburn, Matthew - ,749 40.92%

State Assembly - District 16
DiNapoli, Thomas - 25,232 73.89%
Chisari, Louis - 8,916 26.11%

State Assembly - District
McKevitt, Thomas GOP - 18,388 53.48%
Sedacca, Dolores - 15,998 46.52%

State Assembly - District 18
Hooper, Earlene - 15,952 82.42%
Jackson, J. Barrington - 3,402 17.58%

State Assembly - District 19
McDonough, David - 20,005 56.87%
Birnbaum, Donald - 15,173 43.13%

State Assembly - District 20
Weisenberg, Harvey - 23,492 70.54%
McQuade, Francis - 9,809 29.46%

State Assembly - District 21
Alfano, Thomas - 20,128 64.70%
Cooper, Alfred - 10,981 35.30%

State Senate Results

Republicans hold on to seats in Nassau

State Senate - District 5
Marcellino, Carl - 47,583 57.13%
Bielanski, Leslie - 35,703 42.87%

State Senate - District 6
Hannon, Kemp - 40,042 58.28%
Roper-Simpson, Casilda - 28,661 41.72%

State Senate - District 7
Balboni, Michael - 42,198 57.83%
Hand, Joseph - 30,768 42.17%

State Senate - District 8
Fuschillo, Charles - 45,021 60.92%
Small, Adam - 28,885 39.08%

State Senate - District 9 Name
Skelos, Dean - 51,533 63.65%
Goldberg, Odelia - 29,436 36.35%

Nassau Judical Results - Bad News for Republicans

The Nassau GOP did fairly poorly here... Dems win 9, GOP win 3.
The GOP spent alot of money on a nasty TV ad campaign and still came up short.
GOP Chairman Joe Mondello's losing record stands.

Dem Winners in Blue, GOP in Red

Supreme Court (vote for 2)
Reporting 100%
x Joel Asarch (D, I, WF) 174,138 27%
John Marks (R, C) 171,973 23%
Thomas Adams (R, I, C) 154,666 25%
Randy Marber (D, WF) 138,125 26%

Family Court (vote for 3)
Reporting 100%
x Conrad Singer (D, C, WF) 178,810 19%
x Ellen Greenberg (D, WF) 175,883 18%
x Robert Bogle (R, I, C, WF) 156,339 17%
Stacy Fleisher Bennett (D, I) 155,458 16%
Patricia Doyle (R, I) 142,966 15%
Merik Aaron (R, C) 140,578 15%

1st District Court
Reporting 100%
x Susan Kluewer (D, WF) 164,583 52%
Francis Ricigliano (R, I, C) 149,241 48%

2nd District Court (vote for 3)
Reporting 100%
x Valerie Bullard (D, WF) 93,296 17%
x Andrew Engel (D, WF) 92,709 17%
x Andrea Phoenix (D) 89,341 17%
Terence Murphy (R, I, C) 86,429 16%
Jane Shrenkel (R, I, C, WF) 86,057 16%
Darlene Harris (R, I, C) 83,354 16%

3rd District Court
Reporting 100%
x Scott Fairgrieve (D, I, C) 32,413 63%
Henry Stanziale (R, C) 18,974 37%

4th District Court
Reporting 100%
x William O'Brien (R, I, C) 42,565 53%
Edmund Dane (D, WF) 39,177 47%


Glen Cove city judge
100%
x Richard McCord (R, I, C) 3,785 100%

An Election Night Laugh

I was watching News12 Long Island and they had Jerry Kremer and Bruce Blakeman on a analysts.
When discussing how well incumbents did on the Island and how they alway get re-elected, Blakeman actually said "Long Island loves its incumbents."
This is that same Bruce Blakeman who was the Presiding Officer of the Nassau County Legislature that got thrown out of office in 1999 alomng with the majority of republican incumbents.

FYI - Local Voters Guides

Here are some Voters Guides to read before election day...

Long Island Press

Newsday Scroll down to list of races from sunday

League of Women Voters for Nassau County

For all of New York scroll down

Massapequanews.com Political Commentary

Christine Sohmer over at massapequanews.com provides local news through her weekly webcast. Christine and her staff get to every event and provide photoessays that go beyond the local newspapers. The site isn't a political site and Christine in her webcasts has spoken well of politicians from across the political spectrum.
Massapequanews.com offers a webcast devoted to tuesdays election.
Take a look and if you live in the Massapequas, visit the site.

An Election Incident at Waldbaums

On saturday, King, Faso (candidiate for governor) and Joe Saladino (local Assemblyman) went campaigning at the Waldbaums on Hicksville Road in Massapequa.
A posse of 30 people plus a limo set up shop so that the three candidates could press soem flesh.
The problem was that with such a large group, it was difficult for shoppers to navigate the entance and exit to the parking lot.
A store manager came out and asked the group to move along.
Saladino didn't like being told what to do but decided to relent when the manager said he would call the police.
According to witnesses, Saladino got a bit too big for his britches and was knocked down a few pegs.

Note to local politicians: It might be your district but that doesn't make you the boss.

Assemblyman Saladino is Big Fat Liar

The sad excuse for an Assemblyman has been caught in another lie.
Saladino tells the Massapequa Post "One of the biggest obstacles to passing laws such as the civil confinement law for sexual predators, however, has been the Democratic majority in the Assembly, he said. "Every time we bring bills to protect children, they are held up by Democrats who apparently are more concerned about the rights of abusers than the rights of victims," he said."

Wait one GOSH DARN second!!
A simple check of the record of the State Assembly AND Saladino's own record show he voted FOR a civil confinement bill brought up by the DEMOCRATS!!!!!

You can eaily access the bill by going to this link.
BILL NO A09282
SAME AS No same as
SPONSOR Silver
COSPNSR Lentol, Aubry, Rivera P, Weisenberg
MLTSPNSR Abbate, Alessi, Bradley, Canestrari, Clark, Colton, Cusick,
Cymbrowitz, DelMonte, Destito, DiNapoli, Eddington, Englebright,
Espaillat, Fields, Galef, Gantt, Gianaris, Gordon, Greene, Gunther,
Karben, Koon, Lafayette, Latimer, Lavelle, Lavine, Lifton, Lupardo,
Magee, Markey, Morelle, Ortiz, Pheffer, Pretlow, Ramos, Reilly,
Schroeder, Seminerio, Tonko, Weinstein, Zebrowski

Add Art 10 SS10.01 - 10.17, amd SS1.03, 7.23, 43.03 & 7.09, Ment Hyg L; amd
SS200.50, 310.50 & 380.60, CP L; amd S168-a, add S622, Cor L; add S38, Judy L;
amd S259-a, add S243-b, Exec L; add S43-b, St Fin L

Provides for the civil confinement of sexual predators.

Notice that Mr. 'I Save the Children from Predators' Saladino isn't even a co-sponsor of this bill.
He did vote for it though. "Saladin Y" or in regular english "Saladino Yes."

So what happended to "Every time we bring bills to protect children, they are held up by Democrats who apparently are more concerned about the rights of abusers than the rights of victims," ????

Joe Saladino will say ANYTHING to get re-elected.

If Joe has a problem with the bill, then vote against it. Don't lie and say Democrats care more about the abuser.

It would be nice if Joe actually cared about the truth.

NOTE: I gave Saladino a bye last time he had voiced his concern about the veracity of a story that was printed here. I took down the post to be nice.
No Longer.
You can see the original post here...