Thursday, January 8, 2015

Eaton announces that Brooklyn GOP is leaning toward Nicole Malliotakis for Congress, for now


He also says that the formal process should remain open until a special election date is announced by the Governor  —  then the GOP Chairmen of Brooklyn and Staten Island can meet to select a candidate that both can and will support


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Earlier today Brooklyn GOP Chairman Craig Eaton issued the following statement:


"Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis has served the people of Brooklyn with distinction for the past four years. She is a champion for our neighborhoods and our ideals.  ***  During an informal meeting of the leaders of  the Brooklyn Republican Party within the NY 11th Congressional District, the majority in attendance expressed support for Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis to be our nominee for the seat that is now vacant.  ***  Because the 11th Congressional District is a bi-county seat, By Laws of the New York State Republican Committee govern the way a nominee is chosen for a special election. NYS By Laws allow for the Richmond County Chairman and the Kings County Chairman to meet and for each to cast his/her vote for their preferred candidate. The vote is weighted based on the number of committee members and Republicans contained within the district at the time of the last general election.  ***  Because I believe that choosing a Congressional candidate for this seat is very important for our neighborhoods and our nation, I do not believe that it should be taken lightly, nor be done without providing a fair and open process, which includes having the Committee meet and interview all prospective candidates.  ***  My committee and I have determined that it is in the best interest of the Constituents of the 11th Congressional District to wait until the Governor calls an election and at that time we will schedule  a convention of the county committee members of the 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn, and invite all interested candidates to attend and speak to those attending. I will then bind myself to their vote and deliver same at my meeting with Chairman Antoniello at the lawfully appointed time.  ***  In the very end, my committee and I will support the candidate selected through this process and will work diligently to ensure that he or she is victorious in the election."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like Donovan peaked to early

Anonymous said...

All this BS about county committee members and dualing GOP leaders is spinning wheels.

Mike Long chooses the next congressman. End of story.

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “CRAIG EATON STILL IN THE NEWS” EDITION

EATON'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULT OF BROOKLYN GOP SURVEY AND PLANS FOR FUTURE 11TH C.D. CANDIDATE MAKE NEWS ON THE SAME DAY AS HIS SUPPORT IS MENTIONED AT THE MALCOLM SMITH TRIAL AS A "GAME CHANGER"

According to a report in the NY Daily News, “Republican Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan has appeared for more than a week to have wrapped up enough local support to score his party's nod to run to succeed former Rep. Michael Grimm in an anticipated special election. *** But state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis isn't giving up -- far from it -- setting up an intraparty brawl for the nod. *** On Thursday, Brooklyn Republican Party Chairman Craig Eaton touted Malliotakis’ candidacy as she met with the National Republican Congressional Committee in a bid to win their support. *** While calling Malliotakis a ‘champion’ for the party's interests and ideals, Eaton said his organization will ‘wait until the Governor calls an election and at that time we will schedule a convention of the county committee members of the 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn, and invite all interested candidates to attend and speak to those attending.’...” (See “Staten Island showdown: Richmond, Brooklyn Republicans split between Donovan and Malliotakis to replace Grimm” by Dan Friedman & Celeste Katz, 1/8/15, NY Daily News/ Daily Politics [http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/staten-island-showdown-donovan-v-malliotakis-blog-entry-1.2070829]).

Mr. Eaton’s remarks in support of Ms. Malliotakis and about the selection process to name a GOP candidate for Congress from Staten Island and Southwest Brooklyn received similar coverage in the Albany Times Union’s Capitol Confidential (See “Ms. Malliotakis Goes to Washington” by Liz Benjamin, 1/9/15, Albany Times Union/ Capitol Confidention / NY State of Politics/ timesunion.com [http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2015/01/ms-malliotakis-goes-to-washington/]).

IN ANOTHER COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY, EATON’S SUPPORT REFERRED TO AS A “GAME CHANGER”

Around the same time that he was spreading the word about his contingent support for Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis, Craig Eaton’s name came up in a city-wide paper in a completely different context. According to a report from the New York Post, “A federal agent who went undercover as a wealthy developer to boost the government’s bribery case against former state Sen. Malcolm Smith testified Thursday [at a Federal trial being held in Westchester] that the disgraced pol boasted to him shortly after the November 2012 general election about how easy it would be get fellow Senate members’ support for him to get back the majority leader post he lost three years earlier....” (See “Malcolm Smith boasted about plan to bribe senators: undercover agent” by Laurel Babcock and Rich Calder, 1/8/15, NY Post [http://nypost.com/2015/01/08/malcolm-smith-boasted-about-plan-to-bribe-senators-undercover-agent/]). Deeper in the Post coverage was this: “...Prosecutors on Thursday also played audiotapes of Smith telling ‘Raj’ [the federal agent, who is known to the jury as “Raj”] to do whatever it takes to get Brooklyn Republican Chairman Craig Eaton onto their side and drop his support of former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. for mayor. *** ‘I need you to make that phone call,’ Smith tells ‘Raj.’ If you can change him [Craig Eaton’s support for Carrion] that would be huge. That would be the biggest game changer.’...”

So there you have it — Craig Eaton is apparently still quite newsworthy.......

Anonymous said...

Malliotakis? Great -- more cluelessly parochial mediocrity.