It appears to be on:
A governor’s race that seemed all but settled is about to be upended again, by a popular Democrat from Long Island who is set to announce that he is switching parties. The move is certain to excite Republican leaders pessimistic about their party’s hopes this fall. […]
[Steve] Levy, 50, the Suffolk County executive, said he wanted voters to see him as “Scott Brown II,” referring to the Massachusetts senator who pulled off an upset against a heavily favored Democrat in January.
“There really seems to be a void out there that I can fit perfectly,” Mr. Levy said, describing Albany’s political culture as a “cesspool.”
“We’ve got to clean house, tear that place down and build it back in a cleaner, more efficient manner,” he added.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Levy, Rene Babich, said late Wednesday that Mr. Levy would announce in a news conference in Albany on Friday that he was seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
But will New York Republicans, the same party that turned the name “Scozzafava” into a verb, be willing to accept a guy who will still technically be a Democrat on election day?
Mr. Levy will face considerable hurdles in winning the Republican nomination. Technically, his change in party registration would not take effect until after the November election; so to gain a spot on the Republican primary ballot, he would have to receive more than 50 percent of the vote at the state party convention in June.
Levy will have to go toe-to-toe with ex-Rep. Rick Lazio, which could promise to be a pretty fun primary — if Levy’s bid even gets that far.
some ex-Democrat county executive even gets close to beating Lazio. Not a chance. Anyone from New York, please inform me if I’m mistaken, I know Lazio’s not some god in NY GOP politics, but just the same…he’s an actual Republican. Who will have a huge cash advantage assuredly.
He’s a right wing Democrat for the most part and a racist at best. He basically is the rallying cry for anti-immigrationists to come to Suffolk County and beat, rob, and kill Hispanics (legal and illegal). Republicans only want him because like the state as whole, Lazio is broke. The only demographic that Levy may appeal to are Jewish voters, but then again, Cuomo takes the Italian voters from the Republicans.
Firt Connecticut, now New York, I’m loving these inter-party Republican battles. It is rather refreshing to see their eventual nominee walk through the door in bandages and crutches following what will surely be eventful primaries, only to get quashed in the general. Good that the Democratic Party can allocate resources elsewhere, since both are expensive markets to begin with.
I can’t find anything on it mentioning that he is running for the Republican nomination. I suppose he wants to appear independent, but Republican primary voters would presumably want to know if he’s running as one.
I think it is funny how quickly things change & how different NY politics is.I don’t think this could have occured anywhere else.
Steve Levy spent his whole career fighting the Long Island Republican Party Machine. He was strong a Tom Suozzi alley (he was called Suozzi Jr.) and part of his “Fix Albany” campaign.
If you told me 5 years ago that Steve Levy would run for Governor as a Republican (or that the GOP would have him) I would have thought you were nuts.
Either he has completely changed is stripes (ala Arlen Specter) or the NY GOP has just given up and decided to be the “Democratic Paty Lite”.
Either way it really leaves me speechless at how ideology is so meaningless in NY politics and how all that really matter to those running the state is power.