What about Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a Democrat, run ning for governor as a Republican? Hey, stranger things have happened in politics — like Scott Brown’s winning the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat in Tuesday’s historic upset.
Brown has provided hope for obscure Republicans running for office in liberal states — including New York, where this year’s big contests include races for governor and both US Senate seats.
Problem is, the New York Republican Party doesn’t have a strong bench. Actually, it can’t even seem to field a full starting line-up.
The only Republican to so far announce a challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is Bruce Blakeman — a former Nassau County legislator and loser in the 1998 state comptroller race. And there are no GOP takers to go after Sen. Charles Schumer.
And, despite Gov. Paterson’s huge disapproval numbers, the only Republican running for governor is Rick Lazio, the former Long Island congressman, who ran a dismal 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton.
Yet the backlash against President Obama and his big-government agenda is huge — especially among independents, who were critical to Brown and would be for New York Republicans. Is the local party stuck hoping that obscure or weak candidates can pull off a Scott Brown-like miracle?
You begin to see why state GOP Chairman Edward Cox reportedly talked with Levy about switching parties for a gubernatorial run.
The move could make sense for Levy and the Republicans.
Since first being elected to the Suffolk County legislature in 1985, Levy has ranked as one of the most fiscally conservative Long Island politicians. Aside from some ugly votes during his brief stint in the state Assembly in the early 2000s, he’s been tightfisted with the taxpayer’s dime.
In the 2003 county-executive race, he ran to the right of his Republican opponent on fiscal matters. After winning, he governed that way — so much so that he was cross-endorsed by the Republicans and Conservatives while winning re-election in 2007.
Given what’s going on in Washington and the budget mess in Albany, 2010 should be the year of the fiscal conservative, and Levy ranks as more fiscally conservative than anyone else in the current mix for governor from either party.
The clearest proof that Levy is tough on spending is the fact that most public-sector unions simply can’t stand the guy. While some have credited Levy’s high popularity in Suffolk to his tough stand on illegal immigration, it’s much more about his tough stand on spending and taxes.
Yet it’s hard to see how the hard-core liberals who dominate Democratic primaries would ever let Levy get the party’s nod for governor.
On budget and taxes, Levy is more Republican than Democratic. In fact, he’s more Republican than most New York Republicans. Cox’s interest in the Suffolk County executive makes sense.
But other GOP leaders aren’t so eager. Suffolk and Nassau GOP leaders already have endorsed Lazio.
In announcing his gubernatorial exploratory committee in early January, Levy said: “I relish the challenge and opportunity of taking a government on fiscal life support and, through needed fiscal discipline, bringing it back to health.”
If any other New York Democrat said this, it would be written off as mere rhetoric. But not Steve Levy. Yet he’ll only get a shot at running for governor if he embraces the Republicans — and the Republicans embrace him.
Raymond J. Keating is a Long Island-based economist.