Rockland Democrat Thomas Zugibe added to his list of police union endorsements by getting the support of the New York City Police Department Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

Zugibe, a former village judge and prosecutor, already had the backing of the Rockland PBA leadership and the union boards for the Ramapo and Haverstraw police.

Zugibe is looking to oust District Attorney Michael Bongiorno, a Republican seeking his fourth, four-year-term, in next Tuesday’s election.

Bongiorno also has his share of police union endorsements.

A measure to protect the credit ratings of Reservists and National Guard soldiers called into active duty won approval from the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

The measure, an amendment to H.R. 513, would allow reserve forces to request that if their credit account is past due or delinquent, credit reporting companies enter a notation that this is due to military service and should be disregarded.

The amendment, introduced by Congressman John Hall, D-Dover Plains, would also prevent the annotation from harming a service member’s current or future credit.

“Soldiers from my district have told me that the war in Iraq has resulted in an increase in bankruptcies, credit debt and other financial problems among many service families whose resources are stretched to the max,” Hall said.

H.R. 513 will now move to the full House Veterans Affairs Committee and, if approved, to the House floor for consideration.

The search for campaign dollars is bringing Rudy Giuliani to Westchester early next month.

According to an invitation mailed to Politics on the Hudson, Bronxville residents Marcia M. Lee and Charles J. Urstadt (a real estate mogul and vice chairman of the Battery Park City Authority) are hosting a reception for Giuliani at the Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville on Saturday, Nov. 10.

Tickets for the fundraiser start at $300 per person. The event begins at 6 p.m.

It was a busy weekend for Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

In case you missed it, the governor traveled to Washington, D.C., Saturday, to announce an agreement with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to create a three-tier license system in New York that would satisfy federal Real ID requirements but also allow illlegal immigrants to qualify for state driver’s licenses.

The move was viewed by some as a retreat by the governor and was scorned by immigrant groups and others that had previously been supportive of the governor.

“In announcing today that New York will submit to President Bush and the Real ID Act, Governor Spitzer set aside a common sense policy on driver’s licenses, bowed to fear-mongering and turned New York into a poster child for the Bush administration’s assault on civil liberties,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement released Saturday.

Meanwhile, Spitzer’s critics continued to pound the governor for continuing his policy of allowing illegal immigrants to have licenses.

“The flip by the Governor today does not change the fact that he is arrogantly insisting on giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens, licenses that could still be used as breeder documents to obtain other valid forms of identification,” Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said in a statement.

Spitzer, meanwhile continued to defend his plan and the deal with Homeland Security, saying it would improve safety.

After causing a stir over the weekend, Spitzer headed to Lisbon, Portugal, for today’s International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) Conference.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t seem to appreciate Assemblyman Richard Brodsky’s staunch opposition to the congestion pricing.

According to an item today on The Daily Politics, Bloomberg used part of his weekly radio show to take a shot at the Westchester Democrat.

“Richard Brodsky lives in the suburbs, represents the suburbs, and has lots to say about the city,” Bloomberg said. “The truth of the matter is, you can always say, ‘Oh, I don’t believe your estimate.’ You can’t run a railroad that way.”

Answer: Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The top recipient of presidential campaign cash from women is, not surprisingly, the only woman in the field, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics

Alhough Clinton has received the most money, the report found Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has received money from the most women. Obama lists 22,045 women who have contributed at least $200, while Clinton only has 17,539.

Among Republicans former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the top choice of women donors, reporting that he’s received at least $200 from 8,801 women.

Here’s a link to the findings:

Vice President Dick Cheney, who provided endless fodder for late night comedians when he accidentially shot a friend during a hunting trip in February 2006, will travel to Dutchess County this weekend for a hunting trip.

According to a report in the Poughkeepsie Journal, Cheney will arrive Sunday night at Stewart airport and travel to a hotel in Poughkeepsie.

On Monday morning, he is expected to leave Poughkeepsie and head to the Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club in LaGrangeville.

The report does not say what Cheney will be hunting for.

Despite his anti-war stance, or perhaps because of it, Ron Paul has collected more money from members of the U.S. military than any other presidential candidate, including John McCain, a Vietnam War prisoner who backs the administration’s policy in Iraq, the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics reports.

Paul has brought in at least $53,670 from the uniformed services since the campaign’s start, compared to McCain’s $40,000.

Democrat Barack Obama, who opposed the resolution to go to Iraq from the start, is the number-two recipient with at least $45,200.

The contribution record of the military has become less Republican since the Iraq war began, and some donors say they’re contributing to express dissatisfaction with the Bush administration’s handling of the war and foreign policy, the Center reports.

Tallying donations exceeding $200, Democrats have received 35 percent of the total $319,000 in contributions from uniformed service members this year. In 2000, the last presidential race before the Iraq war began, Democrats received 18 percent of contributions from the military.

Campaign donors are never too young to give to their favorite candidates, according to Federal Election Commission data analyzed by the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics.

Because the FEC has not set any age limit on donations and doesn’t ask donors’ ages, parents who want to give more than the $2,300 limit per election can break open their kids’ piggy banks (or trust funds) and contribute more in their names, listing their occupation as “student” in most cases, according to the Center.

Students have given $2.9 million already in the first nine months of this year, Center data shows, surpassing the $2.8 million in contributions they gave to presidential candidates in the entire 2004 election cycle. Democrats are collecting 69 percent of the money. Hillary Clinton has collected the most from students—at least $836,000.

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano will host a town hall meeting for veterans Monday at the County Center in White Plains.

The meeting will spotlight a potential veterans village development on the VA’s Montrose campus that would include a full range of medical services, affordable housing for young veterans and their families, a continuing care retirement community, senior housing, and continued operation of the state-run nursing home, as well as townhouses for veterans and their families.

Developed by the county, state, town of Cortlandt and veterans groups, the village concept will be presented in a program from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 29. All veterans are invited to attend.

In addition to Spano, speakers will include Westchester County Legislator Vito Pinto, liaison to the Veterans Advisory Board; Ron Tocci, commissioner for veterans affairs for the state Department of Labor; Bill Ryan, chair of the county Board of Legislators; Linda Puglisi, Cortlandt town supervisor.

Given the increasing number of veterans coming home with serious injuries from Iraq, this was not the time to put private development profits over the needs of our veterans, Ryan said.

“Establishing a Veterans Village at Montrose is about supporting our troops, not only when they are deployed at the front, but when they return home as veterans,” Ryan said. “We must be prepared to provide them with the services they deserve after putting their lives on the line for our country.”