Trichter, Dunlea challenging DiNapoli in comptroller race

ALBANY — State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a Democrat and the longest-serving statewide-elected official, faces challenges from Republican Jonathan Trichter, a public finance analyst; activist Green Party candidate Mark Dunlea; and Libertarian candiate Cruger Gallaudet in the Nov. 6 general election.

DiNapoli, 64, seeking his third term, received the most votes of any candidate for state office four years ago.

“With all the ups and downs of New York state government — I have served with three governors, four lieutenant governors, two [Assembly] speakers, three attorneys generals and five Senate majority leaders — you look at the revolving door, the nuts and bolts of state government, and we have been the steady hand in some very turbulent years in the state’s history,” DiNapoli said.

Trichter, 47, said DiNapoli is a nice guy, but "he’s everybody’s friend in Albany, and the governor has been able to roll over him."

"I’m a tough guy. I’ll suit up and I will push back if the governor tries to roll over my authority," said Trichter, a former Iron Man competitor. "As comptroller, I will provide grown-up supervision and a check and balance on the governor’s worst instincts.”

Trichter has been dissecting the performance of DiNapoli and the state pension system, saying the comptroller has failed to surpass the return of a typical investment manager. He also said DiNapoli has failed to use the full power of the office to curb corruption, including delaying state budget approval to get needed reforms.

Trichter called DiNapoli “the $6 billion man” for fees the state has paid to Wall Street brokerage houses, spending Trichter says he could reduce because of his expertise in investing.

Republicans see an opportunity in the seat held by Democrats since 1993 because the job is little understood by voters and DiNapoli remains relatively unknown publicly. DiNapoli had a 58-26 percent lead over Trichter in the Oct. 1 Siena College Research Institute poll, the most recent available.

DiNapoli said he has been a moderating factor in a wild, sharply partisan decade of government by being nonpartisan and sticking to facts, not politics. DiNapoli also has pioneered the use of the pension’s massive investment power to push some corporations to more green approaches to operations, and to combat global warming and workplace abuses, which DiNapoli said also protects the state pension fund.

DiNapoli's years in office have included some public battles with Cuomo, who fought off DiNapoli’s attempts to pre-audit some major state contracts by getting the State Legislature to take away some of that power. Cuomo countered by teaming with then-Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman to pursue investigations into corruption and waste allowed under their joint authorities, circumventing some of the power curbed by Cuomo.

Perhaps the comptroller’s top task is as sole trustee of the $207 billion state pension for more than 1 million state government workers and retirees.

The independent, nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts earlier this year said New York was among just four states where the pension fund was at least 90 percent funded, in warning that other states faced fiscal trouble. DiNapoli said he continues to make the pension fund better funded so governments won’t have to pay higher employer contributions and raise property taxes.

Beyond his focus on the pension issue, Trichter said, if elected, he will revive the 2012 case in which then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) struck a secret state-paid settlement to women who accused then-Assembly Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn) of sexual harassment. DiNapoli had to sign off on the payment.

“Men can’t act that way and men can’t cover up for people who act that way,” Trichter said.

DiNapoli's spokesman called the accusation “a cheap political point” by Trichter from the suffering of women. DiNapoli’s office said at the time that its role was limited, it didn’t participate in the negotiations, and provided no opinion on the merits of the settlement.

Dunlea, 64, the longtime head of the nonprofit Hunger Action Network, said if elected he will press to end the $1 billion in “wage theft” from low-income workers because the state doesn’t adequate enforce laws governing minimum wages and overtime.

Dunlea said he also would focus on getting the state "to divest our pension fund from fossil fuels. It is morally wrong for the state to invest $11 billion in oil, coal and gas companies that are killing life on our planet.”

Gallludet, the Libertarian and former auditor for General Electric Co., said independence is essential in the job.

"Holding two-party politics accountable requires someone outside of that system," he said on his Facebook page.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.