Gov. race: Conservative Paladino ally welcomes the moment

The one candidate Rick Lazio beat at the polls this year expressed excitement yesterday that the former Suffolk congressman would step aside for Carl Paladino to become the Conservative Party candidate for governor.

"This is a very good day," Ralph Lorigo said.

Of course, Lorigo, a lawyer from Western New York, never was one of those lone-wolf candidates. He's the Conservative Party chairman in Erie County -- and he's been allied with Paladino from the outset.

Lorigo tried months ago to get Paladino his party's nod for governor. But the Conservative's executive committee designated Lazio - and barred a primary challenge by Paladino.

So Lorigo, as a regional party insider, was in a position to put himself up as an alternative for governor and did so.

On primary night, while Paladino was beating Lazio on the Republican line, Lazio beat Lorigo on the Conservative line, 11,084 votes to 7,254.

This created just one of several odd paradoxes in small-c conservative politics this season in New York: A Lorigo win for governor would have been a Paladino win for governor.

Now another possible paradox arises. In a sense, the Paladino campaign is still competing with itself: The more of his voters back him on the Taxpayers line he created, the fewer will vote Conservative. That could leave the Conservatives short of the 50,000 votes they need to keep their automatic ballot position for the next four years.

Lorigo denies any problem. "The tea party people have said many times they are not a party, that their goal is motivational. So I believe tea-partyers have no problem voting on an organized line," he told Newsday Monday. "There's no animosity, no problem, no conflict . . . What you'll see is the vote on the Conservative line will be substantial."

There's one hitch for the Taxpayers line. Its nominee for lieutenant governor, picked weeks ago by Paladino, is Thomas Ognibene, former City Council minority leader from Queens. On the Republican line, Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards won the primary, becoming Paladino's running mate.

So for the Taxpayers line to help Paladino win, Edwards will have to replace Ognibene. That's no problem either, Lorigo says.

"Ognibene will get off the line," he said. "Edwards has turned out to be a good partner for Carl and he will be on [Taxpayers]."

While shrewd maneuvers, including an impromptu judicial nomination for Lazio, are under way to give Paladino a united front, not everyone on the political right is thrilled.

George Marlin of New Hyde Park, longtime Conservative Party activist, said Monday that he "cannot in good conscience support Carl Paladino because I do not believe he has the knowledge or temperament to effectively manage the state government."