Maltese steps down as GOP leader

With Republican leadership in New York State teetering on an endangered species list, including a dwindling majority in the State Senate as their final piece of power, Queens Senator Serphin Maltese recently announced that he was stepping down as Queens Republican Party leader to focus his time on serving those who elected him.
Maltese announced his intentions at the party’s February meeting and urged those in attendance to elect long-time Vice President, Phil Ragusa, to fill his position. The Queens organization overwhelmingly elected Ragusa, who has been a state committee member and district leader in Whitestone for more than 20 years, to take over Maltese’s post effective immediately.
“Now, I feel reasonably certain that the Democrats will be targeting me and my seat, and my first responsibilities are to my constituents,” Maltese said. “I wanted this to be a unifying factor instead of a divisive factor.”
Maltese served as the leader of the Queens Republican Party for what he called a very happy 10 years, but said there were many challenges including finances and Democrats outnumbering Republicans nearly four to one throughout the county and as much as eight to one in some concentrated areas. Maltese will retain the title of Honorary Chair, but he said Ragusa will make all of the decisions, and he is confident in his ability to lead the party in the right direction.
“The decisions are his,” Maltese said. “I think that is one of the reasons I feel so lucky he is taking over. He’s an independent thinker.”
Ragusa, who has been a managing partner in the firm Ragusa & DeVito CPA’s for the past 27 years as well as being a mainstay in the Queens Republican Party is looking forward to taking on his new role.
In an interview with The Queens Courier, he outlined a number of grassroots initiatives on his immediate agenda including revamping the organization’s Website, establishing a Republican Club in all 18 Assembly districts, starting a class for potential candidates to learn about how to run a campaign and continuing to reach out to minorities in the communities.
In addition, he said his first priority was helping retain the two Queens Republican seats in the Senate - Maltese and Senator Frank Padavan - in order to keep the party’s majority in the Senate.
“That’s going to be our prime job,” Ragusa said. “We were lucky; we [the Republican Party] got a drubbing in New York State, but we were fortunate to hang onto both of those seats.”
Ragusa also spoke about helping to organize as many Republican candidates for future elections including those in the Assembly, Congress and the upcoming City Council elections where many of the borough’s seats will be up for grabs because of term limits.
“Absolutely, we can win a seat, especially when there is no incumbent,” Ragusa said.