Faso gets nod - and primary fight

BY MELANIE LEFKOWITZ | Newsday Staff Writer

June 2, 2006

Republican New York Governor candidate John Faso speaks at the New York Republican State Committee 2006 Statewide Designating Meeting held at Hofstra University, June 1, 2006 (Newsday Photo/Karen Wiles Stabile)

John Faso, the former state assemblyman from Kinderhook who has amassed upstate and suburban backing in his campaign for governor with aggressive vows to cut taxes, won a majority of Republican support at its convention yesterday, but will still face William Weld in a primary that party leaders had lobbied to avoid.

Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts wooed to run for an office widely viewed as all but impossible for Republicans to keep, vowed to remain in the race. He said he believes his views on issues such as abortion and gay marriage make him a stronger choice to face Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer.

Yesterday's vote sets the stage for a primary fight between Weld, a socially moderate centrist, and the more right-leaning Faso, who has already won the Conservative party nomination and opposes abortion. Nassau County Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello characterized the match as a battle for the state party's identity.

"It is a choice that will determine just where we as New York Republicans stand along the ideological spectrum between right, center and left," said Mondello, who waited to the last moment to announce he would split Nassau's vote 50/50 between Faso and Weld.

But Faso brushed aside concerns his conservative views could alienate mainstream voters, insisting that the most important issue is the crushing taxes that drive businesses and families out of state.

"This is the reality that people are worried about. This is the issue that's going to decide this election," he told reporters. "If Eliot Spitzer is elected, he's going to raise taxes, and then he's going to raise them all over again."

Spitzer, speaking to reporters yesterday near Watertown, said Faso is wrong. "We've said that over and over again," Spitzer said. "He can keep saying that, but he's trying to sell snake oil."

Faso also attacked Spitzer over his purported volatility, saying he doesn't believe the state attorney general has the "temperament" to be governor.

Faso's supporters, whose cheers and foot-stomping reverberated through the Hofstra University Arena every time a vote for him was cast, erupted wildly when the Westchester County vote pushed him over 50 percent, ensuring that he would be the favorite.

Mondello, who had refused to align himself and his delegate-rich county with either candidate, did not determine the outcome. But Nassau's split did help leave Faso with 61 percent of the convention vote and Weld with 39 percent, a hefty spread despite efforts Wednesday night by Gov. George Pataki to sway support to Weld so the two would emerge on equal footing.

After his speech, Weld said he was unconcerned by Faso's stronger showing. "I thought someone would be in the 50s and someone would be in the 40s," he said.

Staff writers Rick Brand and Lauren Weber contributed to this story.