Defiant Espada rejects Dems' bid to oust him

State Sen. Pedro Espada Monday rejected an effort by New York Democratic leaders to oust him from the party, suggesting the move was racially motivated and engineered by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the party's nominee for governor.

The state Senate majority leader vowed at a news conference to run again this fall. He brandished petitions he said held the signatures of at least 10,000 Democrats in his Bronx district, far more than the 1,000 he needs to get on the Sept. 14 primary ballot. The deadline to file petitions is Thursday.

Surrounded by supporters who interrupted his speech with chants of "Espada por la gente!" (Espada for the people), Puerto Rico-born Espada said his community refused to be marginalized.

"We know too well about discrimination, we know too well about xenophobia. If you look brown and you're an immigrant, you're not supposed to have power," Espada said. "I want every one of my detractors to know, while you can knock us down, while you can selectively prosecute us, you do not understand the level of our conviction."

Last week, the New York Democratic State Committee sent a letter to Bronx party leaders urging them to cancel Espada's membership.

They said Espada does not support party goals, having briefly joined with Republicans last summer in a power play that ground Senate business to a halt for a month.

Espada also is under state and federal investigation for allegedly siphoning $14 million from health clinics he operates in the Bronx and keeping the money for his personal use. Cuomo's office is leading the state investigation.

Assemb. Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Bronx committee chairman, said last week the state party's actions against Espada couldn't be finished before the primary and any court battle could take months.

Espada was joined at the news conference by state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., another Bronx Democrat, who said Espada upheld Democratic Party principles more strongly than Cuomo or outgoing Gov. David A. Paterson.

"When we are talking about who is a good Democrat and who is a bad Democrat in my community - the black and Hispanic community I represent - the good Democrat is the one that supports and fights for our programs," Diaz said.

A Cuomo campaign spokesman declined to comment yesterday.