Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his Democratic challenger, former County Executive Tom Suozzi, each earned high-profile endorsements last week in anticipation of Tuesday’s election.
While Mangano received the support of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Suozzi was endorsed by former President Bill Clinton, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Times and Newsday.
In a statement following a private reception on Wednesday at Leonard’s of Great Neck in support of Suozzi, Clinton said he identified with Suozzi because he also once lost a gubernatorial election based on an unpopular tax – one of Mangano’s campaign promises in 2009 was to repeal Suozzi’s home energy tax, which he did upon unseating the former county executive – but earned the support of voters in the next race because “they knew I was smart enough not to make the same mistake twice.”
Clinton said Suozzi is the only candidate with the vision to revive Nassau County’s economy and “make this a ‘future’ place once again.”
“You can’t lead into a better tomorrow when your entire platform is ‘vote for me because of what I didn’t do,’” Clinton said of the Mangano campaign’s focus on property taxes not increasing during his term in office.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon outside the Morrelly Homeland Security Center in Bethpage with members of the Benevolent Fire Marshal Association, Skellos and Giuliani each endorsed Mangano because his financial record of not raising property taxes and decreasing unemployment, as well as for lowering crime and taking illegal guns off the streets.
“In government, the easiest thing to do and the most cowardly thing to do is to raise taxes, and I’ve taken that to heart,” Skelos said. “I know that Ed Mangano has taken that to heart. It’s about leadership, it’s about understanding that taxpayers cannot pay more in taxes, that government must be more efficient.”
Giuliani, who grew up in Garden City Park and North Bellmore, said he has great admiration for Nassau County residents, particularly those he visited with after the September 11 attacks while mayor and in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
“I also have great admiration for what Ed has done because I know how hard it is to turn something around and as someone who participated in turning around New York City, I am a great admirer of how Ed Mangano has turned around Nassau County,” Giuliani said. “When he took over four years ago, this county was in pretty darn bad shape, and he’s moved it absolutely, in every respect, in the opposite direction.”
At a Suozzi campaign rally on Saturday that filled the Albertson VFW hall, Cuomo announced his endorsement of the former county executive with hundreds of supporters and other local Democrats from Nassau and Suffolk counties in attendance.
“We need to build a Democratic Party for all New Yorkers. We must demand performance from government,” said Cuomo. “We will Elect Tom Suozzi the next Nassau County Executive.”
In announcing its support for Suozzi earlier in the week, the New York Times editorial board wrote last week that the challenger had “rescued the county before” and has an “excellent agenda” for handling the county’s finances.
“It will take Mr. Suozzi, whom we recommend with enthusiasm, to get Nassau moving forward again,” the editorial board wrote.
Newsday’s editorial board expressed its support for Suozzi in a op-ed piece posted to its Web site on Oct. 18 that criticized Mangano being “incapable of presenting a budget that does not require smoke and mirrors to balance.”
“In almost no case has Mangano made significant progress to corral the county’s major problems, nor has he shared a compelling agenda for Nassau’s growth,” Newsday’s editorial board wrote. “Suozzi’s plan for the county remains compelling: modern, enjoyable, walkable destinations near select transit centers, suburban elsewhere, affordable for our children and grand children.”
