Randy Daniels Girds for GOP Primary Battle

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The New York Sun

New York’s secretary of state, Randy Daniels, offered a strong indication yesterday that he will fight in a primary for the 2006 Republican gubernatorial nomination against a former governor of Massachusetts, William Weld.


Mr. Weld said last week that he would seek the nomination and has dominated press coverage of the race since then. Mr. Daniels has historically been a strong supporter of primaries, and his comments yesterday set the stage for a battle that could include several Republicans and that would probably be waged over the most conservative elements of the electorate.


“This race really is a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party,” Mr. Daniels told The New York Sun in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon. Asked if he would get out of the race now that Mr. Weld is running, Mr. Daniels said, “Absolutely not.”


In addition to Messrs. Daniels and Weld, other potential Republican candidates include a former Assembly minority leader, John Faso; an assemblyman from Dutchess County, Patrick Manning, and several state senators. In addition, some Republicans are courting a three-time Independence Party candidate for governor, Thomas Golisano, for the race.


“I don’t care who gets into the race,” Mr. Daniels said. “If I get into this race I am confident that I will be the nominee. … I am going to build a very broad coalition in this race, a new majority.”


Mr. Daniels is well liked among conservative Republicans and is a regular speaker at Conservative Party events. That party’s chairman, Michael Long, has indicated Mr. Weld will have a difficult time winning the Conservative Party endorsement, which for decades has been crucial for Republican candidates.


Asked how he differed from Mr. Weld, Mr. Daniels identified himself as a “common-sense conservative” and said Mr. Weld is “closer to Hillary Clinton and Eliot Spitzer and John Kerry.”


When reminded that Mr. Weld had run against Mr. Kerry for Senate in Massachusetts in 1996, Mr. Daniels said: “That’s Massachusetts politics. This is New York.”


In a subtler dig at Mr. Weld, who quit the Justice Department during the Reagan administration and later quit the governorship of Massachusetts in a failed bid to win Senate confirmation as President Clinton’s ambassador to Mexico, Mr. Daniels said the contest would be about who had “stick-to-it-iveness” and “the temperament to govern.”


“I believe that my experience best qualifies me for the job,” Mr. Daniels said.


Republicans may also have a contested primary for the Senate race in 2006, with a lawyer, Edward Cox, and the former mayor of Yonkers, John Spencer, running against the district attorney of Westchester Country, Jeanine Pirro. Such races would be unusual for a party whose leadership favors pre-selecting candidates, in an effort to avoid potentially divisive and costly primary contests. Republican leaders are divided over primaries. The chairman of the party’s state committee, Stephen Minarik, opposes them.


He recently joined 46 of the 62 county chairmen in a letter to Mrs. Pirro urging her to run against Mrs. Clinton. Another signatory, the Republican chairman for Rockland County, Vincent Reda, said a primary in the governor’s race would do damage.


“I just think primaries are divisive and it takes a while to heal wounds,” Mr. Reda said.


A former executive director of the state Republican Party, Brendan Quinn, said, however, that Mr. Daniels should not step aside.


“Primaries don’t hurt,” Mr. Quinn said. “Al D’Amato lost to Chuck Schumer after Chuck Schumer went through a primary, and Eliot Spitzer beat Dennis Vacco after going through a primary. They both got a bounce going through primaries. Let the best man win.”


In a sign the state party is looking to prevent a primary in the governor’s race, Mr. Reda said Mr. Daniels, in a recent presentation to party leaders, ruled out running in a primary. Mr. Daniels denied making such a pledge and suggested party officials are misrepresenting his statements and those of other candidates they do not favor.


“The same thing was said about Ed Cox,” Mr. Daniels said. “You saw that Ed Cox denied the same thing. John Spencer denied the same thing. Do you see a pattern here?”


Mr. Daniels said he has built a base of support throughout the state.


“I’ve been to every county. I’ve met all of the local leadership. I’ve been all around this state. I have a record I’m very proud of,” he said. He also said he wouldn’t run for any job other than governor.


“I have no interest in any other office,” Mr. Daniels said.


Mr. Daniels said a “firm decision” on whether he will run would be announced by mid-October.


Mr. Weld did not return repeated calls for comment about the race.


The New York Sun

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