By William Lewis
The newly created Queens County Republican Organization, led by new chairman, former Congressman Robert Turner, held its first county fund-raising dinner.
John Catsimatidis was an honored guest and received the “Man of the Year Award.” When he was introduced to the guests, it was mentioned that he has an electrical engineering background and built the family store into a huge chain of supermarkets.
At present he also hosts a Sunday morning radio show on 970AM from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
During his presentation to the assembled gathering, he spoke in support of America’s middle class and called for government policies to benefit them, including lower interest rates and creating more jobs. He called for truth, integrity and honesty in how our government operates.
Catsimatidis is hopeful that Queens Republicans will be unified in the future, especially during political campaigns. He praised Robert Turner for providing county leadership. He also gave credit to former Mayor Ed Koch for supporting Turner during the special election for U.S. Congress that helped elect Turner.
Catsimatidis has plans to expand his radio show nationally, rather than just locally.
One other thing he spoke about was the recent civil unrest in several cities. He mentioned that some of the same individuals who demonstrated in Ferguson, Mo., also demonstrated in Baltimore, Md. He indicated that at least some of these people were being paid for their efforts.
Catsimatidis is not supporting any presidential candidate at this time, although he is expected to give support to a candidate at some future time.
He has always emphasized a “common sense” approach to political and social problems. He believes that citizens working together can successfully deal with society problems.
At the Queens Republican dinner it was indicated that over 240 guests attended. The county organization got off to a good start. This large turnout shows an interest in Queens Republican politics.
At present there is only one Republican officeholder in Queens. That is Eric Ulrich from the 32nd City Council district in southwest Queens. If we go back 30 or 40 years, the Queens Republican Party had a group of state assemblymen and senators. It is the hope of the new county Republican organization that those days will return again.
It is good to see that more police are being added to our city police force. Crime can and will be dealt with in the future. Long battles have gone on for years within the Queens Republican Party. These battles have served to weaken the Republican Party especially during election campaigns.
