GOP vows to retake county Republican Party names candidates for Nassau, Hempstead offices

The GOP boss asserted several times that the Republican Party is well positioned to regain control of the county Legislature, where all 19 seats are up for grabs and Democrats now enjoy a slim 10-9 majority.
Mondello also believes the party will maintain its virtually iron-clad grip on the Town of Hempstead, where the party holds the supervisor's post and five of six council seats. "I've never been more excited," the chairman told the crowd of GOP leaders. "My belief is that this will really be a very fine Republican year."
Mondello has a lot riding on his party's success this November. In 2001, after Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) trounced Conservative-Republican financier Bruce Bent for the county executive's seat, there was talk among political circles that Mondello would lose the chairman's job.
He survived. The party, however, still struggles at the county level to shake its tarnished image, after former Executive Thomas Gulotta (R-North Merrick) racked up budget deficits during the late 1990s that soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars, nearly bankrupting Nassau.
This year, Mondello's campaign strategy appears simple. The party will focus on one issue: taxes.
Last Wednesday, Mondello beseeched party members "to stay on message" when speaking with voters and attack the Democrats' record on taxes. Mondello said, "I want each and every one one of you to know that [taxes] is the only answer they [the Democrats] have come up with" to balance the county budget.
The chairman didn't mention Democrats' spending cuts and other recent proposals, such as public-private partnerships to maintain the parks or creation of a sewer authority that could save Nassau up to $25 million annually.
After the convention, candidates spoke only about taxes during
interviews. Michael Mirotznik of Bellmore, an attorney with a private practice in East Meadow, is challenging Legislator David Denenberg (D-Merrick) for the 19th District seat. Mirotznik said, "It's getting to a point where the tax bill is going to become more than the mortgage."
Denise Ford has been a registered Democrat for 35 years. She's running on the Republican ticket for the 4th District seat now held by Michael Zapson (D-Long Beach). Ford, a union shop steward, collected petition signatures to get Suozzi on the ballot in 2001 and offered a financial contribution to his campaign.
Now, Ford says, she's seeking election because she wants to see county taxes brought under control, which she contends Suozzi hasn't done. "As a single parent, I feel we could do better by not having the taxes raised," she said.
Ford, whose husband, a New York City firefighter, died in the 2001 Father's Day Fire in Queens, may be a key to the GOP's attempt to retake the Legislature. She makes an appealing candidate on two levels. She could woo fellow Democrats from her hometown of Long Beach, which has long been considered the Democratic Party's 4th District stronghold. Meanwhile, as a GOP candidate touting lower taxes, she could win Republican and Conservative votes.
One thing's certain: Republicans promise a tough fight in this year's election at the county and town levels. Kathleen Murray (R-Levittown), the former Hempstead Town clerk who was appointed supervisor in January and is up for election, said, "We are going to be working 24/7 from now until November."




Nassau County 2003 GOP candidates

Assessor: Charles O'Shea, North Merrick

Legislature: Ricky LaRosa, 1st District; Wanda Arroyo, 2nd; John Ciotti, 3rd; Denise Ford, 4th; Kevin Kamen, 5th; Francis Becker, 6th; Mara Jacobowitz, 7th; Vincent Muscarella, 8th; Richard Nicolello, 9th; Robert Frucht, 10th; Mitchell Winn, 11th; Peter Schmitt, 12th; Norma Gonsalves, 13th; Greg Carman, 14th; Dennis Dunne, 15th; Patricia Doyle, 16th; Edward Mangano, 17th; Paul Annunziato, 18th; Michael Mirotznik, 19th.

Town of Hempstead candidates

Supervisor Kathleen Murray, Receiver of Taxes Donald Clavin, Clerk Mark Bonilla, and council members John Darcy and Angelina Cullin, as well as first-time candidate Edward Abramson, who is seeking a council seat.