Homegrown GOP contender might join Bishop race

A homegrown elected Republican has finally sprouted among the imported contenders and returning sons elbowing each other for the right to take on Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) in November.

Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick, 52, a 23-year electoral veteran, said late last week he is "seriously exploring" joining the 1st District race. He was to meet with town GOP leader William Ellis this weekend and Suffolk GOP chairman John Jay LaValle in the coming week.

"I have a record of standing up for the taxpayer and I'm a local person whose summer home and winter home is in St. James," he said, in an indirect jibe at other contenders.

What makes Fitzpatrick's name intriguing is that his family is a well-known political brand in Smithtown, where his late father was once supervisor. He also has Conservative cred - the minor party ranked him the Assembly's most conservative lawmaker in two of the last three years. Fitzpatrick also has close ties to longtime Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio, who might find it difficult to back Bishop, as he has in the past, if Fitzpatrick runs.

The downside for Fitzpatrick is that he's so well established, he has never had to raise much money. The congressional race will cost at least $2 million. His state campaign fund has only $1,514, and in 2008 and 2006 Fitzpatrick raised just $23,170 and $27,780. Fitzpatrick is also jumping in late - another seven contenders have already been screened before town committees in Smithtown, Brookhaven and the East End. "It's already the seventh inning," said Ellis.

Fitzpatrick discounts such concerns. "Anyone new to the district may have to start earlier to build name recognition," he said. "But I have not seen anyone in the field who has blown the doors off of anyone."

"Mike's very formidable," said LaValle, saying Fitzpatrick will be weighed seriously. Conservative counterpart Edward Walsh also lauded him as "very very conservative . . . it adds a very talented guy into the mix."

Ironically, Fitzpatrick last October endorsed fellow St. James resident Randy Altschuler, a millionaire who moved into the area last year, has raised than a $1 million, much of it self-funded, and has TV ads. But Altschuler is also in a pitched battle with LaValle, who claims moves by Altschuler's former company, Office Tigers, to export jobs to Asia makes him unelectable. Fitzpatrick said he reconsidered because "it's clear" Altschuler will not get party support.

Other foes include former Wall Street watchdog lawyer George Demos, who grew up in Shelter Island and returned to Ronkonkoma last fall. He has raised more than $300,000 and has also done a TV blitz.

Former CIA official George Berntsen, who grew up in Smithtown and only moved back last month, will officially announce his candidacy Sunday in Riverhead. The late President Richard Nixon's grandson Christopher Cox is also in the hunt, using the family's Westhampton summer home as his abode.

But Fitzpatrick already has a track record, winning by 2-to-1 ratios in his eight years in the Assembly and 15 as a Smithtown Town Board member. However, only two-thirds of Smithtown is in the 1st Congressional District, and he is far less known in Brookhaven and the East End, which makes up the bulk of the district. Still, the nearly 35,000 GOP voters of the lawmaker's Assembly district could be a big edge in a crowded GOP primary.

The last time there was such a crowded field was in 1978, when ukelele-playing Rep. Otis Pike retired. Republicans and Democrats each had five-way primaries and Conservative Suffolk Legis. William Carney of Hauppauge emerged the winner after a GOP race where he got just 4,774 votes, or 30.7 percent. That primary contest drew a 13.6 percent GOP turnout.

Yet Fitzpatrick's name is not scaring off anyone. Said Altschuler adviser Rob Ryan: "Republican primaries are good for the party and good for democracy."