Astorino: I didn't heed party leader's demand for job

Rob Astorino, the Republican Westchester executive who's running for governor, says he rejected a demand from his county's Independence Party leader, Giulio "Doc" Cavallo, for a patronage job after the party endorsed Astorino in 2009. Cavallo denies any demand.

In July 2010 Cavallo, who has a medical degree, did get hired -- but by GOP-controlled Nassau County, as a "research scientist II" with full civil-service benefits. Nassau paid the Yonkers resident $73,684 last year and the State Senate paid him another $57,000 as a special health adviser, records show.

Reached at his county phone number at 3 p.m. on a Friday, Cavallo said he was reviewing medical claims. He was hired when longtime friend John Ciampoli became county attorney in 2010. Ciampoli said Nassau Executive Edward Mangano's transition team got Cavallo's resume and he has proved "a huge asset to the office."

-- Celeste Hadrick