Dr. Jay Golub, previously a Republican candidate for City Council on the Lower East Side, is now running for public advocate. As a Democrat.

Dr. Golub asserts that his principles have not changed in his shift from Republican to Democratic registration. Indeed, as a self-described “Giuliani Republican” or “Moynihan Democrat,” Dr. Golub remains steadfast in his support of cutting taxes, balancing the budget, and improving the quality of life, while remaining solidly pro-choice and pro-gay rights.

He does not see the party label as the most important indicator of his positions, saying “most people are basically nonpartisan,” but his shift is evidence of a trend that should serve as yet another wakeup call to local Republicans. One of their party’s grassroots activists and former district leaders has abandoned their party altogether, in the belief that the Democrats’ 5-to-1 registration advantage in New York City is virtually insurmountable.

This aspiring reformer has decided to bring his message of change to the vehicle of the Democratic Party primary, because he believes his chances of success are far greater even in that stacked deck, than in the general election, where Republican candidates below the level of mayor rarely get a second look from local voters.

Dr. Golub points out that since the adoption of the public advocate position in the City Charter, the Republican Party has yet to field a citywide candidate for that role (Mayor Giuliani’s 1997 running mate as public advocate, Assemblyman Jules Polonetsky, was a registered Democrat). In 2001, after eight successful years of the Giuliani administration and a high-financed mayoral candidate named Michael Bloomberg, the local Republican Party still could not find a single individual willing to put his or her prestige on the line to run for public advocate as a Republican.

The public advocate is supposed to serve as a watchdog or ombudsman for New York City government, challenging the mayor and offering an official outlet for frustrated citizenry. Dr. Golub charges that the incumbent, Betsy Gotbaum, has adopted an essentially reactive approach to the role, making her a human equivalent of Mayor Bloomberg’s 311 hotline. She is being challenged on the left in the Democratic primary by New York civil rights fixture Norman Siegel.

Dr. Golub’s candidacy does have a strikingly subversive element to it. His stated purpose is to serve as an agent for change within the Democratic primary and party, and if he reaches office by appealing to the large number of Giuliani Democrats that exist throughout New York City, he hopes to prod Mayor Bloomberg into a more reform Republican stance from the right, despite his Democratic label. In this scenario, the kabuki theater of New York City politics would reach absurd new heights, with a liberal Democrat mayor governing under the Republican label, while a Republican public advocate reaches office on the Democratic line. This is just more evidence of how incoherent and in need of reform is our local political system.

Dr. Golub says this his counter-intuitive candidacy was in part inspired by a loaded offer made by the New York State Democratic Party chairman, Herman “Denny” Farrell, during the nonpartisan elections debate. “Denny Farrell said that interested Republicans should change their registration and run in the Democratic primary instead of having nonpartisan elections,” Dr. Golub told me. “So I decided to take him up on it.” Dr. Golub states that if he reaches office as public advocate he would continue his fight for election reforms such as nonpartisan elections.

Dr. Golub’s decision to at least temporarily abandon local Republican politics potentially marks a return to the days when the Democratic Party in New York was a genuinely big tent offering ample room for conservative Democrats, many of whom were working-class outer-borough residents – what might be described as “Archie Bunker Democrats.”

Dr. Golub is no simple throwback, however. He is indicative of a younger generation of New Yorkers who were inspired by Mayor Giuliani’s leadership of New York City but now believe that the Republican Party is in danger of losing its identity and its effectiveness. They feel that the Bloomberg administration to date has not offered sufficient assistance in party building. So they’re reverting back to the one-party state model of New York City, where the elections are decided in the Democratic primary. But they’re refusing to surrender many underlying Republican reform principles in this effort.

Dr. Golub is particularly eloquent in arguing that New York City pays $24 billion more each year to the state and federal government than it gets back in services. He argues that if New York City were to receive its fair share back, we would be able to increase spending in the budget while still cutting taxes dramatically. He says that the public advocate is in the perfect position to raise public awareness about this issue, and that a combination of political pressure, legislation, and litigation could begin to bring about change in this area.

Dr. Golub’s candidacy highlights the absurdity of New York City’s underlying political fault lines from a new perspective. The Democratic Party is far less liberal and monolithic than many would believe. It is a troubling sign, however, that the local Republican Party has been unable so far to build itself into a respectable and responsible electoral engine capable of electing eager younger activists into office, causing them to seek other means. But the effort to reform government transcends parties, and Jay Golub’s quixotic candidacy offers a fresh challenge to the stale assembly line of local politics.