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Matthew Mahoney, $30,000-a-month executive director of the Senate Republican Campaign Commmittee and one-time head of Giuliani's presidential field operations was relieved of overall responsibility for the NY Senate's GOP campaign and told to concentrate on fund-raising and administrative chores....(rather than pushing the ex-mayor for governor). The demotion was also tied to Giuliani's failure to deliver on pledges to raise substantial amounts of cash for Republican efforts to hold the Senate. Giuliani was supposed to announce the creation of a fund-raising committee to collect cash for the Senate GOP, which some believe is designed to bolster the ex-mayor should he run...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain left Buffalo Monday with no new hope of carrying New York in November but still got what he came for — lots of campaign cash. The Arizona senator established a Western New York political fundraising record at two separate events — raking in more than $1 million — all in the course of about three hours.

Here’s the statement Joe Bruno just issued regarding his decision not to seek re-election in November: ”Today, I met with my Republican colleagues in the Senate and informed them that I will not be running for re-election this November. “After 32 years in office, I have decided that it is time to move on with my life and to give my constituents an opportunity for new representation and my colleagues in the Senate who have supported me, an opportunity for new leadership. “Public service has been a blessing for which I will be ever grateful. I have had the opportunity...

ALBANY, N.Y. _ Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who has run the Republican chamber for more than a dozen years, confirmed Monday that he won't seek re-election in the fall.

Frank Powers, the wealthy Wall Street retiree tapped to run for disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella's congressional seat, died Sunday- sending shock waves through the already reeling state GOP. News of Powers' fatal heart attack had many party insiders wondering if Fossella would change his mind and run again - but he quickly moved to quash the speculation. "Congressman Fossella will not be seeking re-election," said a Fossella aide. Powers, a 68-year-old MTA board member, philanthropist and father of seven, died at home early Sunday, relatives said.

The top political lieutenant to Rudy Giuliani is being mentioned by some Republicans as a possible replacement for state GOP Chairman Joe Mondello, who's been the target of criticism over the party's dwindling fortunes in the past year. Anthony Carbonetti, who was senior strategist for Giuliani's failed presidential bid, has been suggested as a possible replacement, a move seen by some as a sign that Giuliani is making a play for the future - including a possible run for governor.The news comes at a time when Mayor Bloomberg - who has conducted polling on a possible gubernatorial run - and...

When cops stopped Rep. Vito Fossella for drunken driving, the married congressman said he was rushing to see his sick daughter on nearby Grimm St. - the home of the mystery woman who later plucked him from jail. Fossella's spokeswoman has insisted the single mom, Air Force Col. Laura Fay, 45, was only a "good friend," but the Staten Island Republican implied to suburban D.C. cops that Fay's 3-year-old was his. "The subject stated that he was driving down from Washington, D.C., to Grimm St. because his daughter was sick and needed to go to the hospital," a police report...

SCHEMER: Darren Dopp, one of the governor's men who orchestrated the plot against Joe Bruno. Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer would have faced a grand-jury probe and may have warranted impeachment for repeatedly lying about his involvement in the Dirty Tricks Scandal, an explosive report from the Albany County district attorney concluded yesterday. In a startling revelation, District Attorney David Soares said that had Spitzer not resigned in the call-girl scandal, the DA would have asked a grand jury to consider urging impeachment or other disciplinary action because the then-governor repeatedly claimed in testimony to Soares that he was not...

GIULIANI WEIGHING 'SPECIAL' RUN FOR GOVBy MAGGIE HABERMAN March 28, 2008 -- In the latest twist in New York politics, Rudy Giuliani is eyeing a run for governor in a special election this fall should Gov. Paterson be forced to resign, sources say. A top adviser to the former mayor, who pulled the plug on his presidential bid in January, yesterday dangled the possibility of Giuliani's running in a special election. It would happen in a year in which presidential nominee John McCain would be at the top of the GOP ticket. The Post reported this week that state lawmakers...

Jewish voters in New York State - including Democrats - could support Republican John McCain in the November election if Barack Obama wins his party's nomination, according to Fredric U. Dicker's "Inside Albany" column in the New York Post. Dov Hikind, a Democrat who backed Reagan in 1980 and 1984, is an assemblyman whose Brooklyn district includes the largest concentration of Hasidic Jews in the U. S. He said many of his constituents oppose Obama for his "half-hearted" support of Israel and his membership in the church of Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., who has repeatedly praised anti-Semitic Nation of Israel...

While declaring his commitment to nonpartisanship, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is quietly injecting himself — and his money — into one of the most explosive partisan battles in decades in New York. Several weeks ago, the mayor wrote a $500,000 check to help keep the dwindling and increasingly imperiled State Senate Republicans from losing their grip on power, according to an official with direct knowledge of the donation. The Democrats are seeking to gain control of the Senate for the first time in 40 years, and the race is growing personal and bitter. Moreover, Mr. Bloomberg has made clear to...

ALBANY — In a major victory for Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his party, a Democratic assemblyman won a stunning upset in a State Senate election on Tuesday in a district that has been in Republican hands for a century. The win reduces the Republicans’ majority to one seat and will intensify pressure on the majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, as he tries to maintain his party’s grip on the Senate, which it has controlled for more than 40 years. The Democrat, Darrel J. Aubertine, a dairy farmer, leaned heavily on Mr. Spitzer’s media consultant and the state Democrats’ money as...

A confluence of surprising political developments has put the Republican control of the state Senate in real jeopardy for the first time in decades, according to veteran Republican Albany operatives. The great survivalists of state politics, Senate Republicans and their 78-year-old leader, Joseph Bruno, have a long history of defying the odds and eking out victories in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than five to three. The crumbling of Governor Spitzer's popularity last year brought a fresh sense of hope among Republicans that they would again repel advances by Senate Democrats in this November's legislative races. This...

Fox News calls New York for John McCain

Sen. John McCain is poised for a landslide victory in New York's Republican presidential primary, based on a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released Monday. McCain, R-Ariz., widened his lead over former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., by eight percentage points in a single day. McCain drew 53 percent support in the latest poll, compared to 19 percent for Romney, a gap of 34 points. McCain had led 49 to 23 percent in Sunday's tracking poll, a margin of 26 points. New York's Republican primary will be held on Tuesday. The third major candidate, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., received 8 percent support both...

John McCain 55% Mitt Romney 21% Other 8% Mike Huckabee 7% Ron Paul 4% Geography: State of New York Data Collected: 01/30/2008 - 01/31/2008 Release Date: 02/01/2008 Sponsors: WABC-TV New York, WGRZ-TV Buffalo, WHEC-TV Rochester, WNYT-TV Albany, WTNH-TV Hartford-New Haven Sample: 462 LVs MoE: +/- 4.6%

February 1, 2008 -- Residents of 21 states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, go to the polls Tuesday in what amounts to a national primary election. For Republicans, the choice is clear:Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Sean Hannity: "I'll tell you right now, and I've not announced this, but I will be voting for Mitt Romney in this campaign. It's the first time I've stated it publicly. I'll state it now." ("Sean Hannity Radio Show," 1/31/08) Click here for YouTube audio.

I TRIED TO SEARCH FOR THIS ON FREE REPUBLIC BUT NO SUCCESS. THIS IS WHY I THOUGHT I'D POST MYSELF THAT I HEARD SEAN HANNITY SAY ON HIS RADIO SHOW TODAY (TOWARDS THE END OF THE SHOW) THAT HE I VOTING FOR MITT ROMNEY ON TUESDAY!

87 winner take all delegates are already in McCain's pocket, with NY a formality now. PRINCETON, NJ -- New USA Today/Gallup polling looks at the state of the presidential race in New York, some 10 days before this state votes as part of the crucial Super Tuesday set of primaries. Republican Race A USA Today/Gallup poll of New York Republicans finds that as of Wednesday through Saturday of this past week, Arizona Sen. John McCain has a substantial lead over former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Mitt Romney, who is gaining in Gallup's national polling, is nevertheless in third...

When Gov. George E. Pataki left office last January, he was the dominant Republican politician in New York. Over three terms, he had shattered fund-raising records and had racked up double-digit victory margins in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, becoming a national political figure in the process. Mr. Pataki ruled Albany for so long that even now some swatches of state bureaucracy are still run by his political appointees. Yet as the Feb. 5 New York presidential primary draws near — a contest that Mr. Pataki once envisioned as central to his own White House ambitions — the former governor is...

ALBANY -- State Republicans want to remove three candidates from the Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot in a way that could give former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, their preferred candidate, a higher profile, according to published reports. GOP staffers sent an amended ballot to county election boards on Friday. It removes Former Sen. Fred Thompson and Rep. Duncan Hunter -- both of whom dropped out in the past week -- and activist Alan Keyes, who Republicans say never submitted a list of delegates, according to a report in Saturday's New York Daily News. Doug Kellner, one of two...

December 17, 2007 -- FEARFUL New York Republicans are rethinking their 2008 campaign strategies because of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's faltering bid for the White House, The Post has learned. Republican leaders, especially those involved in the crucial battle to retain GOP control of the state Senate, had hoped an energized Giuliani candidacy would attract independent and moderate Democrats to their ballot line in what is widely expected to be a big Democratic year. But, pointing to his declining national polling numbers and his surprise slide to third place in Florida, GOP strategists are privately calling Giuliani's own strategy efforts...

ALBANY, N.Y. - The Senate's Republican majority moved Monday to try to block Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to make it easier for illegal immigrants to receive driver's licenses. It's part of an uncertain special session that could include action on pay raises for legislators and judges and tax breaks despite a projected deficit. The Senate's license bill would require applicants for a driver's license to be in the country legally. Spitzer's plan will end that requirement in December, by no longer requiring a Social Security number to get or renew a license. Spitzer has said he can start the new...

Having trended Democratic over recent decades, New York gave Democrats more to crow about in 2006 than most other states. The party re-elected Senator Hillary Clinton by a huge margin, replaced a retiring Republican governor with a Democrat, and picked up three previously Republican House seats. But even with an overwhelming majority in the state's Assembly - 107 of the 150 seats are held by Democrats - one prize stayed in Republican hands: The State Senate. With a slim 33-29 majority, Republicans are determined to hold the line in the upper chamber, and not just for the sake of the...

A former Pentagon spokeswoman under President Reagan launched a Web site Friday to solicit donations for a possible run against Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Republican Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland is still gauging support and has not actually decided whether to run, said adviser William O'Reilly.

NYYRC January Political Forum We are honored to begin the New Year with two fantastic speakers on January 12th Featured Speaker Our featured speaker will be George J. Marlin, author of Fighting the Good Fight: A History of the New York Conservative Party and of The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years Of Political Impact. George Marlin is also former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Road to Albany 2006 Candidate Series This month, we are honored to have John Faso, a gubernatorial candidate and the former New York State Assembly Minority...

The GOP is once failing to support a promising Republican Woman candidate for higher office . The New York GOP does not want her to run against Hillary Clinton for her U.S. Senate seat . Instead they want her to run for State Attorney General again . The reason seems that Pirro is not as fabulously weel funded as Hillary for a U.S. Senate Campaign . Also, Pirro's campaign got off to a messy start .it

State Republican Party leaders meeting in Albany recommended that Jeanine Pirro abandon her struggling campaign to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and instead run for state attorney general. State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik said that no vote was taken but that the recommendation was the consensus of the county leaders. Rockland County Chairman Vincent Reda said support for a Pirro switch was "overwhelming."

ALBANY, Dec. 12 - After weeks of messy public squabbling, leaders of the New York Republican Party met in a smoke-free back room here on Monday and reversed course, urging Jeanine F. Pirro to quit her bid to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and run for state attorney general next year. Ms. Pirro, the district attorney of Westchester County, immediately issued a statement rejecting the suggestion, saying, "I remain a candidate for U.S. Senate, but I greatly respect the opinion of the county chairs and their confidence in my abilities as a statewide candidate." The shift by the party came...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld on Monday won a nonbinding straw poll of GOP candidates for New York's governor that was weighted toward counties with strong Republican turnouts. But John Faso's bid, framed as a more socially conservative alternative, attracted an equal number of county party bosses. Each campaign claimed victory in the vote that revealed a tangible split in the Republican ranks over who will run for governor in 2006. One goal of Monday's meeting of Republican leaders was to find a consensus candidate to raise money and take on Eliot Spitzer, the current attorney general...

The article, which cannot be posted here, says that State Republican leaders will meet Monday in Albany in hopes of agreeing on candidates for U.S. Senate and governor. State and Monroe County GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik will head the meeting.

The controversy over the meeting of the county chairmen of the state Republican Party next week is just another sign of a party that is divided and dysfunctional - with five important statewide races at stake less than a year away. Next year may be the clearest shot that the state's Democrats will have at a clean sweep of state offices in decades. It also should have the GOP members concerned about what hits they may take in both the Assembly and state Senate. The county chairmen are meeting in hopes of finding a consensus on candidates who are viable...

With the end of Pataki’s reign nigh, the New York State Republican party seems to be at war with itself. A handy guide to who’s stabbing whom in the back, and why.Pataki’s Inner CircleState GOP Chair Stephen Minarik Current Play: Hanging on as party supremo. Boosting: Socially liberal candidates Pirro and Weld. Undermining: Conservative Party honcho Mike Long and his power over the GOP. Strategy: Strong-arming county chairmen into supporting his duo. Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld Current Play: Hoping his blue-blood charm will out-affable Spitzer to win governorship. Boosting: Minarik, his prime sponsor. Strategy: Pushing for Minarik-engineered “straw poll”...

Political Memo ALBANY, Dec. 2 - As Gov. George E. Pataki prepares to enter his 12th and final year in office in New York, he is finding out the perils of being a lame duck, with his power under attack as never before - even from within his own party. The Republican Party in New York is at war with itself, with some factions embracing a governor's race by Mr. Pataki's longtime nemesis, Tom Golisano, and others trying to force Mr. Pataki's pick for the United States Senate, Jeanine F. Pirro, out of the race. In New York City, Mayor...

While the Republicans celebrate their victory in the New York City mayoral race, the state Republican Party is beset by ideological divisions, personal rivalries and individual agendas that are undermining any semblance of party unity as the 2006 elections approach, many party officials say. Leading Republicans across the state are alarmed and say the problems stem largely from the power vacuum resulting from Gov. George E. Pataki's decision not to seek re-election in 2006 after three terms in office. One consequence is that Republicans are deeply at odds about their political lineup for the coming year.