It’s official: Tom Suozzi wants a rematch.
Suozzi announced his candidacy with a letter to Nassau residents on his campaign website on Wednesday after weeks of will-he-or-won’t-he speculation.
“For over three years Ed Mangano has presided over the decline of our county. I’ve seen the county taken over by a state agency. I’ve seen the county mismanaged from one man-made crisis after another and I’ve seen no one even talking about a vision for our future. That’s why I am running for Nassau County executive,” Suozzi said in the letter.
The former Democratic county executive lost a re-election bid to Mangano, a Republican, by a razor-thin margin in 2009.
Nassau County Democratic party Chairman Jay Jacobs immediately threw his support behind Suozzi in a press conference held Wednesday morning.
“I was delighted today to learn that Tom Suozzi is running,” said Jacobs at the press conference. “I feel the need is so great to have someone who can take on Ed Mangano and win.”
Jacobs called for party unity behind Suozzi, ahead of what will likely be a contested primary.
Suozzi himself did not attend the press conference, but Jacobs said that Suozzi would be making the press rounds starting Thursday.
Roslyn school board member Adam Haber announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in January, and in an interview with Blank Slate Media prior to Suozzi’s announcement indicated he had no intentions of dropping out of the race if Suozzi decided to run.
Haber’s campaign manger Justin Meyer attacked Suozzi for not attending the press conference in a statement Wednesday.
“Suozzi has already admitted that he took voters for granted in 2009, and that they wanted a change from his status quo. Whether it’s his tax hikes, budget deficits or back-room deals, no-show Suozzi will keep failing to lead on the issues that matter to middle class families. Adam Haber will deliver the responsive leadership and real change voters deserve,” wrote Myers in the statement.
Jacobs compared the upcoming race to a boxing match – the “Thrilla in Mineola,” in his terms – and said Suozzi’s record of balancing budgets made him an ideal candidate to reverse what he described as Mangano’s policy of increasing county debt.
“The people of Nassau can’t afford to have their future sold off,” Jacobs said.
And the party leader made clear that Suozzi has the backing of the county party.
“I will tell you, when I was looking for candidates, I would have been remiss if I did not call Tom Suozzi.”
“Four years does not erase Tom Suozzi’s legacy of taxing too high, spending too much and leaving behind an utter mess,” said Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin to Newsday.
The Nassau County Young Democrats had recently launched a movement to draft Suozzi into the race, and said in a Feb. 5 press release that more than 1,500 people have signed up on the group’s Web site.
North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman had formed an exploratory committee in preparation for a possible candidacy before Suozzi’s announcement.
Jacobs said at the press conference he would reach out to Kaiman, who he called a good friend, and ask him to back Suozzi’s candidacy in the name of party unity.
Jacobs said he had held multiple conversations with Suozzi about the race, and that he had secured a commitment from Suozzi to serve the full four years of his term if elected. Suozzi ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor against Eliot Spitzer during his last term in office.
Suozzi will kick off his campaign with more than $1 million in his campaign account left over from his unsuccessful re-election bid against Mangano, according to a January financial filing.
By comparison, Mangano has $2.3 million in his war chest. Haber has $2.2 million in his account, with $2 million of that a loan from his personal funds.
Haber, a 47 year old resident of East Hills, launched his campaign in January. An investor and Mineola restaurant owner, Haber has positioned himself as an outsider to what he called “Nassau’s notorious machine politics” in a recent press release.
In an interview, Haber described himself as a political outsider running out of concern for his community.
“Running as an outsider gives me a distinct advantage,” Haber said. “I don’t have to worry about doing anything other than what’s best for the community.”
“Insiders have been running the community since I moved here, and it’s been horrible,” he said.
Jacob’s said that Suozzi’s previous loss was attributable both to a wave of opposition to Democrats during a recession and to mistakes Suozzi made on the campaign trail.
Haber said his experience on the Roslyn school board and as an entrepreneur would help him deal with the county’s fiscal challenges.
Haber told Blank Slate media he did not consult with party leadership prior to declaring his candidacy.
And while he acknowledged he would face challenges in a primary campaign against a candidate with much higher name recognition, Haber said he would welcome a Suozzi candidacy.
“It will help me raise my profile,” Haber said. “It will be easy to contrast the eight years he’s had already and the county not being in a good place now with what I can do.”
Jacobs called Haber “talented” and “well intentioned” in an interview, but took issue with what he sees as Haber’s ambitions for the Democratic nomination coupled with a lack of respect for the work of the party organization.
“The party is here for a purpose. I certainly as its chairman have been working very hard,” Jacobs said. “It does rub us all a little bit the wrong way, because the implication is there’s something wrong with party leadership and what the party has been doing.”
“Those kinds of statements don’t make me feel warm and fuzzy,” Jacobs added.
The Democratic source said that Haber had thus far worked independently of the county’s Democratic leadership, but speculated that he could end up drawing significant support.
To a certain degree I think he’s working in the shadows,” said the source. “Having said that, there are people in the party who might be interested in a fresh face and might be inclined to go with someone like Adam.”
Party leaders think Mangano may be susceptible to a challenge, according to the source – especially if the former county executive is the one holding the Democrats’ banner.
“I think there is a level of cautious optimism in the party,” said the source. “I think that many people have identified Tom Suozzi as the person who is best able to exploit [Mangano’s] vulnerabilities.”
