Haber, Hardwick make bid for third-party lines in Nassau race

Former Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick and businessman Adam Haber, both Democrats, each submitted thousands of signatures late Tuesday in bids to get on the November ballot as third-party candidates for Nassau County executive, according to a county Board of Elections official.

Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party of New York submitted more than 1,600 signatures each for candidates to run on its line for county executive and four other offices.

Candidates seeking to run on third-party lines needed to submit 1,500 valid signatures.

Hardwick, 56, who plans to run on the new "We Count" line, appeared at the county Board of Elections office in Mineola on Tuesday evening with a stack of 8,420 signatures, said Democratic elections Commissioner William Biamonte.

Hardwick, a Democrat who lost his re-election bid to Robert Kennedy in the Freeport mayoral race in March, said he is running for county executive to fight for middle-class voters, including superstorm Sandy victims. "We deserve a decent, fair and honest government," said Hardwick.

Democrats have criticized Hardwick's candidacy, arguing he is attempting to siphon African-American votes from Thomas Suozzi -- a Democrat running for his old job -- in an effort to help GOP County Executive Edward Mangano.

Suozzi, 50, who will face Haber in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary, declined to comment.

Hardwick denies he is in the race to play spoiler.

Nassau party chairman Jay Jacobs did not respond to requests for comment.

Haber, meanwhile, submitted 3,302 signatures to appear on the Liberal Party line. But Haber, 48, a Roslyn school board member and retired Wall Street trader, said his intention is to win the primary and appear on both the Democratic and Liberal lines. He declined to speculate on how he would proceed if he lost the primary.

"I am completely focused on winning the Democratic primary," Haber said.

There are 2,649 registered Liberal Party members in Nassau, Biamonte said.

Nolan Mann, 28, of Wantagh, who works at an antiques gallery in East Rockaway, also submitted signatures to run for county executive on the Libertarian line. Mann concedes that while he has little chance to win the race, he hoped to force the other candidates to discuss issues such as job creation and reduced government.

"Both parties are basically the same on issues such as the economy," Mann said.

The Libertarian Party also submitted petitions for candidates to run for county comptroller, district attorney, clerk and legislator in the 18th District.

There are 198 registered Libertarians in Nassau County, Biamonte said.

Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said, "Regardless of who's in the race, residents know Ed Mangano is the only candidate who froze property taxes his entire term, repealed the home energy tax and created thousands of private-sector jobs."