Daily highlights from Newsday's political blog

Lee Zeldin, seeking to unseat Sen. Brian Foley (D-Blue Point), has been going after the recent role in the Foley campaign of Angelo Aponte, a top state Senate aide. As The Associated Press summarized from last week's inspector general report on irregularities surrounding the Aqueduct casino bid:

The report said Senate leaders leaked an internal memo containing competitors' bid information to AEG . . . An assistant to . . . Aponte e-mailed the memo to AEG consultant Hank Sheinkopf and Aponte, when questioned, claimed not to recall why that was done. Later, Zelden said, "The most powerful people in the New York State Senate are involved in scandal . . . It would be appropriate for Sen. Foley to . . . address how he plans to clean up his campaign." Foley spokesman Anne Fenton says Aponte has no formal role.

Tom dissin' Harry

After Comptroller Tom DiNapoli photoshopped a wizard's hat onto Republican opponent Harry Wilson in a mailer, Wilson was asked whether he'd adopt the costume for Halloween. "I don't have a wizard hat," Wilson said. "But I was thinking about going as Tom DiNapoli and asking my two oldest daughters, have one go as a tax increase and the other as pension fund mismanagement." DiNapoli spokesman Eric Sumberg retorted: "We will be a hedge fund walking around as a shrub picking money from people's pocket" - a reference to Wilson's Wall Street past.