Janison: Will incumbents stay full term if re-elected?
Other Columnists
A standard question for incumbents seeking re-election: Will you stay the full term if voters choose you again?
Of Nassau's four countywide elected officials, only Maureen O'Connell, the county clerk, offers a plain "Yes."
Democratic Comptroller Howard Weitzman responds: "I expect to be with the county for another four years."
Democratic District Attorney Kathleen Rice draws mention as a prospect for state attorney general next year. On a full term, Tucker Green of her campaign says: "There isn't a single person in any profession that can make that promise honestly, because things happen and life and landscapes change. What I can tell you is that the D.A. loves her job and has no plans to do anything else."
Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi ran for governor shortly after his 2005 re-election and lost. With his name on the Nov. 3 ballot for a third term that he once said he wouldn't seek, the Suozzi rumor mill grinds on. Lieutenant governor? Attorney general if Andrew Cuomo runs for governor? U.S. Senate challenge to fellow Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand?
Asked about a four-year commitment, Suozzi replies: "I commit that I will continue to do whatever I can to address the property tax problems that the people of Nassau County face."
GOP Legis. Ed Mangano is Suozzi's opponent. Weitzman faces Republican George Maragos; Republican O'Connell, who ran for state Senate in 2007, faces Democrat Carrie Solages. Rice faces Republican Joy Watson.
READ, BETWEEN
THE LINES: The state Court of Appeals' controversial ruling that Gov. David A. Paterson had the unchecked right to appoint Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch required the partisan "crossover" vote of Republican Susan P. Read, a nominee of Gov. George Pataki. Factoid of note: Read was Pataki's deputy counsel during a tension-filled period when Betsy McCaughey was his famously-rebellious lieutenant governor.
ROMAN HOLIDAY: While Mayor Michael Bloomberg had to be driven to that urgent U2 concert due to helicopter trouble, his deputy mayor for legal affairs, Carol Robles-Roman, attended a ceremony honoring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. There, Paterson announced appointment of the deputy mayor's husband, state Supreme Court Justice Nelson S. Roman, to the Appellate Division. Bloomberg's rival, Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., was seen dropping in beforehand with state Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn).
