Manhattan businessman enters gubernatorial race

The field of battle for governor of New York got a little more crowded Monday, as Manhattan businessman Myers Mermel announced he, too, is seeking the job.

Mermel, a conservative Republican who chaired Mike Huckabee's New York campaign in 2008, had pursued the lieutenant governorship in screenings with regional party officials in recent weeks. But the Republican front-runner, former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio, last week announced he has selected Chatauqua County Executive Gregory Edwards as his lieutenant governor.

"I bring good news," Mermel, 47, said in a news release. "For those who say it is too late or too difficult to change our government, I say to them it is never, never too late to do the right thing."

Mermel said his job priorities include job creation, eliminate "waste, fat and fraud" in state government, trim payrolls, and lower school, property and capital gains taxes.

Mermel's campaign noted that his lieutenant governor campaign had attracted close to 20,000 Facebook followers, calling it a sign of the strength of his message and fundraising potential.

A former investment banker with a degree from Yale Divinity School who started a company to guide businesses' relocation efforts, Mermel's firm advised former Gov. George Pataki in redeveloping Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks. Last year, he served on a state GOP commission tasked with renewing the party. He is married and has two children.

Mermel brings to four the number of Republicans pursuing support from party delegates at the GOP convention next week.Front-runner Lazio now appears to command a slim majority of the weighted vote, but Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino has notched gains in the polls with a statewide media blitz, while Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has picked up a stream of recent county endorsements - including, yesterdayMonday, one from the chairman of Sullivan County's Republicans.

Those campaigns had no comment yesterdayMonday on Mermel's announcement.