Mayor Fails To Woo Two of Three Council Republicans
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
As Mayor Bloomberg racks up endorsements from prominent Democrats in the city, two of three Republicans in the City Council have yet to back him as their party’s candidate.
Over the weekend, Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. and his father, the former speaker of the council, Peter Vallone Sr., announced that they were crossing party lines to back Mr. Bloomberg. And on Friday, Council Member Domenic Recchia Jr. of Brooklyn, who like the Vallones endorsed Democrat Gifford Miller in the primary, announced that he was behind the mayor.
However, two of Mr. Bloomberg’s fellow Republicans in the council, the body’s Republican minority leader, James Oddo, of Staten Island, and a member from Queens, Dennis Gallagher, have not endorsed him.
While both live in important districts for Mr. Bloomberg and are popular lead ers in their communities who could be valuable surrogate campaigners, their relationship with the mayor has been rocky since his early days in City Hall, when they opposed his 18.5% property tax increase.
Mr. Oddo said yesterday that his endorsement was a non-issue. “I think that train has left the station. There’s nobody in the Bloomberg campaign who’s pining for my endorsement, and that’s all well and good because I’m focused on my own race,” he said.
Mr. Bloomberg is expected to carry Staten Island in the November 8 general election, and he has some prominent elected officials, including Rep. Vito Fossella and the former president of the borough, Guy Molinari, backing him there. But the campaign needs to ensure a high voter turnout in the borough, Mr. Oddo said.
When asked whether he would be aggressively campaigning if he had a better relationship with the mayor, Mr. Oddo said: “All politics is local. City Council members have the most immediate relationship with the public. All of my politicking is on the retail end. It’s hand-to-hand. It’s every night, it’s every day, but I’ve got to think they’re comfortable with the elected officials they have on Staten Island.”
Messrs. Oddo and Gallagher said they had not talked to the mayor’s staff lately.
Mr. Oddo said his attention had already turned to the speaker’s race. His relationship with the next council speaker, he said, was more important that his relationship with the mayor.
Said Mr. Gallagher: “At this point I’m probably sitting this one out.”
When asked why the two council Republicans had not endorsed the mayor yet, a spokesman for the Bloomberg campaign, Jordan Barowitz, said: “Mayor Bloomberg has earned the endorsement of a diverse and broad coalition of New Yorkers.”