Readers Write: Republican NYC Comptroller candidate Daby Carreras faces insurmountable odds in 2021

The Island Now

It was 52 years ago when Fioravante Perrotta ran on the Republican and Liberal party lines in 1969 for New York City comptroller, losing a close race to Democrat Abe Beame. The last effective GOP challenger for comptroller was businessman Richard Bernstein, who ran with former Mayor Ed Koch in 1981.

This also applies to former Brooklyn Democratic Assemblymember Jules Polenetsky, who ran for public advocate with former Mayor Rudy Guiliani in 1997. The last Republican City Council President Sanford Garelick won in 1969.

The last Republican New York City comptroller was Joseph D. McGoldrick, who served from 1938 to 1945.

Money is the mother’s milk of politics. According to the New York State Board of Elections, as of Feb. 21, 2020 in NYC there were 3,376,341 Democrats, 501,848 Republicans, 19,467 Conservatives, 14,347 Working Families members, 113,737 other political party members and 967,054 Blank (No Party Selected) active registered voters.

The only way any underdog GOP candidate can overcome history and a 7-to-1 enrollment advantage of Democrats to Republicans is to quickly raise millions. This is necessary to finance weekly television and radio media buys, newspaper ads, phone banks, direct mail and get out the vote operations. Without money to compete, Carreras running on the Republican ballot line will become just another asterisk in municipal electoral history.

It is a forgone conclusion that Democrats will win the municipal trifecta.

Newspaper headlines on Wednesday, Nov. 3 will read “Erik Adams elected Mayor, Bruce Ladner Comptroller and Jumanne Williams Public Advocate.”

There will be a contest between council members to select the next NYC Council Speaker who will succeed lame duck NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

Democrats will end up controlling 49 of the 51 NYC council seats. The GOP should be able to hold on to the Mid-Island and South Shore Staten Island Council seats which they traditionally win.

The same state Board of Elections numbers allow Staten Island GOP candidates to be competitive in these two council districts. There are 131,209 Democrats 98,773 Republican and 71,435 Blank (No Party Selected) active registered voters on Staten Island.

Democrats on Staten Island tend to be more moderate and will frequently cross party lines to vote Republican. Queens Republicans will probably loss term-limited Eric Ulrich’ seat, eliminating the last GOP elected official from their borough.

New Yorkers will have to deal with one-party control of all three city-wide offices along with the City Council.

History has shown that this a recipe for disaster and municipal corruption. It leaves the door to City Hall wide open for waste, fraud and abuse. This will result in a spiraling economic decline as the business community and job creators continue to flee for more favorable climates elsewhere.

With continued unemployment and less tax revenue coming in, this will trigger a decline of basic municipal services. Chaos and finger-pointing will eventually be the order of the day.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

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