Al Curtis and John Fleming are fighting uphill but winnable battles to bring a new generation of New York City Republicans to the State Senate. At a time when the pressure for reform is building on the Albany establishment, these two Giuliani administration alumni want to bring their brand of urban reform Republicanism to the state legislature. They are running to represent two opposite ends of our city – the Bronx and Staten Island – but their candidacies are reflections of the next political evolution of our city, away from reflexive Democrat support and toward a more inclusive, effective, and representative Republican Party.

Mr. Curtis served as the commissioner of youth services and president of the United Nations Development Corporation under Mayor Giuliani. He was born in Liberia, came to America in 1973, worked his way up from living in the projects, and rose from a bank teller to an assistant vice president of Chemical Bank. He was the head of the Staten Island NAACP in 1993 when Mr. Giuliani asked him to join his administration.

Sitting comfortably in his campaign office on Staten Island, Mr. Curtis reflects on the changes that have led him to fight for a seat in a 3 to 1 Democratic district spanning parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island, a victory that would make him the highest-ranking elected African-American Republican in New York State. “I saw a situation where the Democratic Party took African-Americans for granted,” Mr. Curtis explains, “And I had an epiphany, where I said ‘wait a minute now – why don’t we have a two-party system for African-Americans so we can be represented at the table at all times.'”

His opponent, Diane Savino, is a political director of the Social Service Employees Union, and Democrats are confident about her chances. But Mr. Curtis expresses confidence about the community coalition he has put together. “I’m running against someone who’s only been in the district for three years,” he asserts. “My opponent is running around saying she can beat me because she’s got the num bers,” he said. “I’m up early in the morning working hard – I’m visiting places she’s never been…she doesn’t know the chemistry of the community.” As evidence of his campaign’s growing appeal, he points to his union endorsements such as one from 1199, the powerful health-care workers union, and to the defection of local Democrats such as Danny Ramos – an aide to the retiring Democratic state senator, Seymour Lachman. Mr. Ramos is joining the Curtis team.

Mr. Curtis is passionate about his aims to be a voice of reform in Albany, to help the budgets pass on time, and to reduce taxes to improve our city’s “competitive advantage” with New Jersey. But at the heart of his claim is practical politics. “I will be serving in the Republican majority – I will be able to deliver for the communities of Brooklyn and Staten Island…If we begin to send the do-nothing Dems to Albany to serve in the Senate, we get nothing in return. They’ve failed us over the years. I think people have wised up to this and so people are beginning to shift. It’s not the party; it’s the person.”

John Fleming, an 18-year veteran of the Police Department who retired as a detective after serving as director of Mr. Giuliani’s security detail, advances similar themes. After leaving City Hall, he worked on Senator McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign and explains that these Republican leaders are his role models; “very independent people, very strong willed, and willing to take people on who they disagree with.” Mr. Fleming was planning to run for Congress against Rep. Eliot Engel when he saw that the Republicans were backing a Democratic state assemblyman, Stephen Kaufman, to run for the state Senate seat of the indicted Guy Velella.

Mr. Fleming said that such back-room deal making “gives more power to Albany and less power to the people – so I said, ‘I’m not going to let it happen. I’m going to run.’ “He was eventually able to secure a meeting with the Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno. Mr. Fleming said he understood that Mr. Bruno was supporting Mr. Kaufman, but asked, “When I do win the Republican primary, will you support me?”

Mr. Bruno laughed and said “of course,” ac cording to Mr. Fleming’s account of the meeting. “But he said there was no way I would win.”

Mr. Fleming did win as part of an anti-incumbent trend on Election Day. Now he is facing Democrat Jeffrey Klein in the general election, with Mr. Kaufman still running on the Conservative line. The district – spanning parts of the Bronx and southern Westchester – has a 2 to 1 Democrat registration advantage, but Mr. Fleming says that these are largely Reagan Democrats – including many immigrants who voted for Mr. Giuliani and for Governor Pataki. “If we give liberal Democrats like David Dinkins and Mario Cuomo enough rope,” Mr. Fleming says, “they’ll hang themselves.”

Mr. Fleming says he wants to reform Albany: “I’m one voice, but I’m going to be a loud voice.” He favors term limits, making the legislative process in Albany more transparent with a C-Span-like system, and ending the system of “open-seat voting” where politicians sign up in the morning and are clocked in as voting “yes” on every bill unless they come in and vote “no.” He condemns New York’s high tax burden and also attacks what he calls the “summons tax.” “People are paying $135 summonses for parking – I think there’s a disconnect between City Hall and the people of New York City – because some people make that in a day,” he says. Mr. Fleming says he admires Mr. Giuliani’s leadership style: “He never stuck his finger in the air and checked public opinion before he made a decision…He’d say ‘my job is to be a leader, and I’m going to lead people.'”

In the candidacies of people like Al Curtis and John Fleming, we see Mr. Giuliani’s legacy move forward with a new generation of younger Republicans who carry forward his message. “It’s kind of like the Giuliani club,” says Mr. Fleming. Al Curtis, Mr. Fleming says, “feels as I do that Albany needs to be reformed, and we share many of the same fiscal positions…Rudy Giuliani kind of shaped us into the people we are to an extent, and that’s good. It was good for New York City. And I hope I can do half as well for New York City as Rudy Giuliani did.”

In these reform candidacies, perhaps a new chapter in New York’s civic life can begin.