Giuliani Visit A Hot Ticket In Ulster County
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is heading to Kingston tomorrow night to headline the Ulster County GOP annual dinner amid ongoing speculation over whether he will run for governor next year.
Ulster County GOP chairman Mario Catalano said the party usually sells about 250 tickets for the event but with Giuliani as the guest, they have already exceeded 450 tickets, which start at $95 a piece. He said some are still available. (More information here.)
Catalano has spoken with Giuliani several times in recent months—about the dinner and about the state party chairmanship. Giuliani reached out to him about supporting Henry Wojtaszek for state GOP chairman instead of Ed Cox; Catalano did flip to Wojtaszek, but Cox won the race.
Catalano said that despite their talks, he’s not sure whether Giuliani will run for governor. But the fact that he’s coming to Ulster County is a sign that the race is on Giuliani’s mind, Catalano said.
“My sense if that he wasn’t at least interested, he wouldn’t be coming to Ulster County,” Catalano said.
Catalano said he would prefer Giuliani run for governor, instead of U.S. Senate, as Cox and others have suggested.
“Here’s how I look at it,” Catalano explained. “Rudy took over a mess in New York City and was able to affect change and turn that city around. If Rudy runs for governor, he’s going to inherit a mess, and he is capable in my opinion of turning that mess around. If he runs for Senate, that mess is much too big for one senator.”
And unlike some county GOP chairmen who want Giuliani to announce his plans sooner rather than later, Catalano said it would make sense to wait until January, which would be after the November elections and after the holidays.
“If you announce now, you water down your message,” he explained.
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rudy giuliani is an executive at heart…he is good a running things and I believe would be bored serving
as one of 100 US senators even though that job is
considered the best job in the world by most political
observers..never the less running the empire state would
be right up rudy’s alley…if you can clean up nyc,
where special interest groups abound…new york state
should be just what the doctor ordered.and the state
has massive endemic problems that require the firm bold
and talented leadership that giuliani can provide…
he has to weigh running against andrew cuomo and the
huge democratic registration edge.but in new york
city the edge was even greater..and recent history
has demonstrated that a republican with the right credentials can win the governorship..and in that regard
ed cox has already made it clear both privately and publicly that the new york state conservative party will
not be calling the shots…republicans don’t need another
party..they are conservative enough…conservatives are welcomed to support the choices that republicans make
but dictating those choices as they have done in the
past is over