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County pol backs Spitzer

BY JAMES T. MADORE | Newsday Staff Writer

March 23, 2006

New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is seen after a fundraiser at the Glen Oaks Country Club in Old Westbury. (Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile / February 15, 2006)

Craig Johnson yesterday broke from Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi's Democratic primary bid for governor, and became the first Democrat in the county legislature to endorse state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

None of the legislature's other nine Democrats appeared ready to join Johnson, of Port Washington, on the Spitzer bandwagon. When contacted by Newsday, six said they supported Suozzi and two were undecided.

Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs, who backs Suozzi, said the split in the legislative majority "is indicative of the fact that you have two extremely strong candidates running for governor. "

Over coffee at the Port Washington Diner, Johnson said Spitzer was more qualified than Suozzi to jump-start the state's ailing economy, which Johnson said is crucial to reducing taxes and other costs.

"There is a diversity of opinion in Nassau County as to the appropriateness of County Executive Suozzi's political activities," said Johnson, who won election in 2000 after the death of his mother, Legis. Barbara Johnson. "To my mind, there's a lot to do here in Nassau County and what needs fixing needs full-time attention. "

Spitzer said he didn't personally seek the endorsement. "Friends brought us together," he said, declining to identify them. Johnson will serve as co-chairman of Spitzer's Nassau leadership group.

Spitzer said he and Johnson shared a belief that "in challenging the status quo, you have to do it in a way that also leads to success ... You have to do it in a way that the result is affirmative for the public," Spitzer said.

Suozzi, a frequent critic of state government, has made "fixing Albany" a key theme. Campaign manager Kim Devlin responded: "It's not surprising that Craig Johnson is signing on with the establishment candidate - he's been there before. " In 2001, Johnson backed Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli's unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for Nassau executive over Suozzi.

A Newsday/NY 1 News poll earlier this month showed Suozzi losing his home county and Suffolk by a wide margin.

Other Democrats wondered whether Johnson's endorsement is part of a plan to seek higher office. "It's too far in the future to be making such plans," said Michael Tobman, a Johnson spokesman.

In the legislature, there was a mixture of surprise and defiance. Those backing Suozzi's gubernatorial bid are Judy Jacobs, David Denenberg, David Mejias, Joseph Scannell, Jeffrey Toback and Dianne Yatauro. Kevan Abrahams and Lisanne Altmann said they were undecided. Deputy Presiding Officer Roger Corbin did not return a call.

Despite past feuding with Suozzi, Scannell, of Baldwin, said: "I think it would be beneficial to Nassau County if we had someone in the governor's office who could deliver projects, capital projects to Nassau County."