GOP Chairman Says Party Better OIn a Governor’s Race Against Spitzer
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ALBANY – The newly elected state Republican chairman is calling Senator Schumer’s decision to stay in Washington a “break” for the GOP, saying Mr. Schumer would have been more difficult to beat in the 2006 gubernatorial race than the other likely Democratic candidate, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
“I thought we got a huge break … when Chuck Schumer decided to stay in the Senate,” the Republican leader, Stephen Minarik, said yesterday on WROW radio. “I thought he was the tougher of the two candidates, frankly. I look forward to the challenge of facing Eliot Spitzer.”
Mr. Minarik was responding to the news that Mr. Schumer, a Democrat, has accepted two new leadership positions in the Senate and will not be running for governor in 2006.That decision cleared the way for Mr. Spitzer to seek the Democratic nomination for governor, as he is expected to do, without a costly and divisive party primary.
Mr. Minarik was not available to elaborate on his remarks. He was apparently alluding to recent poll results showing Governor Pataki, a three-term Republican, running even with Mr. Spitzer and narrowly losing to Mr. Schumer.
The poll by Marist College in September showed the governor and Mr. Spitzer each receiving 47% of the vote in a hypothetical matchup. The same poll had Mr. Schumer ahead of Mr. Pataki 50% to 46%.
Since then, Mr. Schumer won re-election with a record-setting 71% of the vote against a little-known Republican, Assemblyman Howard Mills of Orange County. A more recent poll by Quinnipiac University found Mr. Schumer to be the most popular politician in the state, with a 61% approval rating, compared with 57% for Mr. Spitzer and Senator Clinton, and 41% for Mr. Pataki.
Despite these figures, a Democratic political consultant, Joseph Mercurio, said he thinks Mr. Spitzer – whose lawsuits against Wall Street firms have made him internationally famous – will be just as formidable a challenger as Mr. Schumer.
“The two of them have very much the same base,” Mr. Mercurio said. “And both of them will be financed adequately enough for the race. … What makes it more difficult for Republicans is [the Democrats] won’t be spending a lot of money on a primary, and a lot of time on a primary, and building up negatives in the primary. It puts the Democrats in a much better position.”
Mr. Mercurio pointed out that Republicans can’t be sure who their candidate will be in 2006. Mr. Pataki has not committed to seeking a fourth term and the best-known alternative among New York Republicans, Mayor Giuliani, is considered more likely to run for president.
“They’ve got a tough row to hoe,” Mr. Mercurio said. “They’ve been losing enrollment. They’ve been losing elections…. When you look at city exit polls particularly, the number of people who are self-described conservatives is getting smaller.”
In his radio interview, Mr. Minarik, who was elected chairman on Monday, said he is operating on the assumption that Mr. Pataki will be running.
“As far as I can tell, he’s going to be our gubernatorial candidate in 2006,” he said. “Until I hear something different, that’s how I’m proceeding.”
Mr. Pataki has said he is not interested in taking a job in the second Bush administration, but isn’t ruling out any options for the future.