NY Races

Two days before Election Day 2006, Austin Street in Forest Hills was bustling with shoppers on a crisp fall Sunday. One storefront in the lively Queens neighborhood, however, sat above the street in silence. The Queens Democratic County Committee headquarters was empty. Doors locked. Nobody home.

 

The lull on Austin Street may seem surprising. But in Queens, as throughout the state, uncontested or lightly contested elections abounded this election season, illustrating each party’s comfort with the status quo.

 

“If you’re busy working with Democratic colleagues, it’s hard to beat the drum to get your party members elected,” said Joe Kasper, a Republican district leader in Queens. “Some Democrats would consider it a hostile act to even raise money for statewide Republican candidates in Queens.” 

 

One prominent beneficiary of the inter-party coziness was state Sen. Serphin Maltese. Since 1988, the affable Maltese has represented Middle Village, Glendale, Woodhaven, Ozone Park, Howard Beach and part of Maspeth. Since the mid-1990s, he also has been chairman of the Queens County Republican Committee.

 

Although the Democrats needed to pick up only five seats statewide to take control of the state Senate – and although Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two to one in Maltese’s district -- the Democratic Party did not endorse Maltese’s Democratic challenger, Albert Baldeo. Nonetheless, Baldeo came within two percentage points of unseating the incumbent, raising the possibility that a Democratic-backed challenger could have taken the seat.

 

“Baldeo was able to get enough signatures to get on the ballot, but the organization didn’t supply him with any help,” said Joseph Suraci, a former Maltese Republican primary opponent and a minor contributor to Baldeo’s campaign. “Officially, they haven’t backed him.”

 

None of the $64,511 Baldeo raised by Nov. 6 came from Democratic committees or organizations.

 

An immigration attorney and community activist, Baldeo was the first Democrat to challenge Maltese since 1994.

 

Baldeo has a checkered past as a candidate, according to news reports. When he ran for city council in 2005, he allegedly brandished a gun in a confrontation with his opponent. The two candidates filed charges against each other; however, the charges were dismissed and the file sealed, the Queens district attorney’s office said.

 

Calls and emails to Baldeo’s office were fielded by an assistant who explained that he was too busy campaigning.

 

At 4:15 p.m. on Election Day, Baldeo and his assistant were two of only three people in the quiet front office of his storefront law firm, which doubled as his campaign headquarters. The A train rumbled overhead as the smartly-dressed Baldeo declined to speak with a reporter.

 

A Friend Across the Aisle

 

“Baldeo doesn’t have my support – that’s for sure,” said Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, a Queens Democrat. “His brother is my landlord, and I still don’t support him. Am I supposed to break in a new senator?”

 

Seminerio’s campaign committee gave Maltese’s committee at least $770 between Aug. 30, 2000 and July 28, 2004, according to Seminerio’s campaign finance disclosures. Maltese is the only state Senator of either party to whom Seminerio has given money since 2000.

 

In this election, Seminerio’s name appeared as the nominee of all four parties on the ballot – the Republican, Democratic, Independence and Conservative parties.

 

In 2003, Maltese nominated Seminerio’s daughter, Anna Seminerio-Culley, to fill a rare vacancy on the civil court.  Seminerio-Culley went on the ballot as a Republican. And as a Democrat. And as a Conservative. Maltese did not forward Suraci’s own letter of interest to the Queens GOP screening panel, Suraci said.

 

“They weren’t huge contributions, but they were contributions nonetheless,” Suraci said of Seminerio’s contributions to Maltese while his daughter was seeking the judgeship. “It raises the appearance of impropriety, especially when [Maltese] is giving nominations to the other party.”

 

Seminerio and Maltese dismissed the significance of the contributions, both in the context of overall fundraising and in influencing the judgeship nomination.

 

“One has nothing to do with the other,” Maltese said. “Do you really think that a politician who gave up the practice of law and never collected a referral fee [for referring legal clients] is going to compromise his integrity for $700 or any amount of money?”

 

Maltese said that Seminerio has been a close friend since 1972 and has co-sponsored many of Maltese’s bills. They often attend each other’s fundraisers and appear in public together, they said.

 

“As a Republican, you need a Democratic sponsor to get bills through the Democratic-controlled Assembly,” Maltese said. “And if I didn’t get along with Democrats, I wouldn’t get elected in this district.”

 

For his part, Seminerio expressed deep affection for Maltese and added, “My daughter didn’t need Republicans to get elected – she had my name and reputation, and she had the ability.”

 

Suraci would have faced an uphill battle for the judgeship, even if Maltese had given him the Republican line on the ballot, according to Seminerio.

 

“You need the backing of the county committee, you need money, you need respect and notoriety,” Seminerio said. “If you don’t have the county backing, you have nothing. You can’t be a dissident and expect the county to back you.”

 

In another Queens State Senate race, Nora Marino, an attorney, challenged long-time Republican incumbent Frank Padavan. Marino similarly received little help from the Democratic organization and ultimately lost by a 20 percent margin.

 

The Queens Democratic County Committee did not return calls for comment about its support of Democratic challengers in Queens.

 

Rob Kalentine, a principal member of The 6 Group, a Democratic political fundraising firm, offered one explanation. “Senator Maltese has served his constituents well,” Kalentine said. “I think there’s a reluctance on the part of the Queens Democratic organization to challenge a Republican they think they can work with.”

 

Suraci put it more harshly. “There’s a relationship there – that’s the obvious inference,” he said. “They don’t bother him and, in exchange, he rolls over and doesn’t give Democrats any opposition.”

 

A Republican Lament

 

Just as some Democrats question their party’s lack of support of Democratic challengers, some Republicans are equally disillusioned by their party’s lack of support in Queens.

 

“It’s very disappointing that we don’t have more Republican candidates,” said Kasper, the Republican district leader for the 31^st Assembly district in Queens. No Republican was on the ballot in the district, which encompasses South Ozone Park, Springfield Gardens, Rosedale, Far Rockaway and Laurelton.

 

“In the district, Mike Duvalle [was] running an excellent race as an Independence candidate, but we would have gladly had him as a Republican candidate,” Kasper said. “But our leadership wasn’t interested in having a Republican candidate. I don’t know why.”

 

Stuart Mirsky, a founding member of Rockaway Republicans, challenged 20-year incumbent Audrey Pheffer in the 23^rd Assembly district in Rockaway Beach. Other than kind words and a little help gathering signatures, he said he received no meaningful support from the Queens County Republican Committee, which Maltese chairs.

 

As of Nov. 6, Mirsky’s campaign committee had raised $2,245, state campaign finance records show. Not a single dollar came from Maltese or a Republican committee.

 

Maltese said he used his personal campaign committee to help finance the county GOP operation and to support Republican candidates in his own district, which is different from Mirsky’s. “We have absolutely no money,” Maltese said of the county Republican committee.

 

Maltese said that he and Audrey Pheffer have a close working relationship. “She and I co-sponsor 30 trips to Albany each year for local schoolchildren,” Maltese explained. “Also, the main club backing Mirsky had been very antagonistic toward the county leadership, but I think we have it worked out and have absolute unity now.”

 

Kasper said that when a party leader is also a legislator, he may leave seats uncontested in order to keep his own seat from being challenged. “If county leaders are also legislators, some would consider that a conflict,” Kasper said.

 

As for Queens, Kasper said, “They’re not going after Maltese because it’s part of the deal.”

 

Referring to his own preference for working with experienced politicians of any party, Seminerio may have unintentionally summed up the forces that lock in the status quo. “Being a politician is the art of give and take,” Seminerio said. “You take this, we’ll split that.”