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Dual showing by dueling officials

BY ERIK GERMAN | STAFF WRITER

March 24, 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)

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Eliot Spitzer and Thomas Suozzi, for the first time in their primary contest, were in the same place on Long Island at about the same time.

They did not meet and they did not shake hands - not publicly, at least. But they worked from the same playbook, extolling the Democrats' November election victories in the Suffolk Legislature and on the Brookhaven Town Board, in separate appearances at the Brookhaven Town Democratic meeting last night.

Each was rewarded with an enthusiastic welcome from about 70 people attending the event at the Radisson Hotel on North Ocean Avenue in Holtsville.

Spitzer, the first of eight speakers to take the podium, began by congratulating the party faithful who "completely turned around the political dynamics of this county."

The two-term attorney general, who enjoys national name recognition and a significant lead over Suozzi in the polls, touched on Suffolk's high property taxes and the state's chronic budget delays throughout his 10-minute speech. He consistently cited his beginnings as an "unknown quantity" when he ran for the statewide office eight years ago.

"I said I would restore your faith in the attorney general's office, and I will do the same for the governor's office," he said.

Suozzi, the Nassau County executive, also congratulated the Suffolk party regulars for their "victory over a one-party machine" last fall.

Suozzi, while mentioning that he does not have the support of the Suffolk Democratic Party organization, said his central message is that a governor from Long Island can best serve Long Islanders.

"If Long Island really wants to address the problems of Long Island, it needs a Long Island governor," he said.

In his 15-minute speech, Suozzi cited his record as county executive as preparation for the governorship, frequently repeating his campaign slogan, "I can do it because I've done it."

Long Island's high property taxes came in for his condemnation, with Suozzi calling that the "main issue we face out here."

His message resonated so much with one member of the largely pro-Spitzer crowd that she decided to join Suozzi's campaign.

"I've seen the results," said Georgette Grier-Key, who moved to Bellport from Nassau County in 2004. "He changed Nassau."

Staff writer Collin Nash contributed to this story.