With Anthony Weiner out of the running, discussions abound about who is the frontrunner to be the Democrat’s nominee for mayor in 2013. Meanwhile, Republicans have been able to elect their candidate the last five outings – even when their guy was no longer a Republican and held almost no core Republican beliefs.
So, the question must be asked, if the Republican Party comes up with a good candidate for mayor, does any Democrat have a chance? Others ask the simple questions, who do the Republicans have? And the simple answer is, we don’t know yet.
The reason is that the Republican Party works very differently from the Democrats, in that there is no preference for career politicians among Republicans as there is with Democrats. Look at all the names being talked about for the Democrat’s nomination. After crossing Weiner off the list, you have Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and a host of other local elected officials.
There is not one viable candidate from the private sector. Not one with any business experience, or experience dealing with government from the outside. They are all lifelong politicians who know nothing other than working for the government.
Republicans, on the other hand, have more of a well-rounded meritocracy in choosing their candidates. They may look for some government experience, but prefer candidates with strong resumes and records of achievement outside of elected office. And, the ability to help fund their own race is also often a plus, considering the fairly ridiculous and limiting campaign finance rules that NYC has adopted over the last decade.
This is why a candidate like John Catsimatidis is very attractive. All five of the Republican county leaders have said that Catsimatidis is their first choice to run, even while the newspapers are touting Ray Kelly. Kelly, who is not even a Republican, fits the Republican vision of a quality candidate far better than the Democrats narrow one. And while Catsimatidis has said he won’t run against Kelly, based on their friendship and years of working together on their favorite charity, the Police Athletic League, Kelly has said he is uninterested in running.
A more likely scenario is Kelly pledges to join the Catsimatidis administration, perhaps as Deputy Mayor, and helps create a ticket with some real punch. With someone for public advocate like Curtis Sliwa or Kelsey Grammer and a candidate for comptroller who understands business and finance, instead of one whose goal is to appease the big labor bosses, and you can see where the Republicans could possibly dominate city government in the next term.
Robert Hornak is a Queens-based political consultant, blogger, and an active member of the Queens Republican Party.
