By Ivan Pereira
City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) has been gearing up to make a big run during the 2013 election season, according to records, and the southeast Queens elected official is getting some major support online.
Comrie, who will be term limited out of office in 2013, has not officially declared his run for borough president, but a Facebook group called “Leroy Comrie for Queens Borough President in 2013” launched last week and already has eight members.
There is no person associated with the creation of the page, which only features the official Council portrait, and the description states that it is made up of a “coalition of concerned citizens.”
Comrie said he saw the site shortly after it launched last week and was humbled by the show of support.
“I had no idea that was being put out there. I’m being honored that someone is doing something for me,” he said.
The page has shown support for other political Facebook groups, including “Ruben Diaz Jr. for Mayor in 2013” and “Albany County Young Democrats,” along with other groups such as “Lord and Taylor and the Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Borough President Helen Marshall was not available for comment about the election by press time Tuesday. In 2013, she, the mayor and the majority of the Queens Council members will be term limited out of office.
Sources have said Comrie was mulling a run for borough president back in 2009, but he changed his mind once the Council voted to extend term limits. Although the election for the seat is more than a year away, campaign finance records indicate that Comrie has already started the wheels turning on a run for a city office.
He has collected $6,831 for an undeclared 2013 campaign, according to campaign finance records. The largest donation came from the I.U.O.E. Local 94, 94A, 94B Union, an engineers union; the Uniformed Firefighters Association; New Yorker’s for Affordable Housing; and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Joint Council 16, each of which donated $500 to Comrie’s campaign, the campaign finance board said.
He has spent $6,450 on his pending campaign so far with his largest expenditure of $682.50 paid to Leigh Carter for consulting, according to the records.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
