On the eve of the state Republican convention, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio yesterday glossed over inter-party squabbling and came out swinging against Democratic nominee Andrew Cuomo.
“People — I don’t care if they’re Democrats or Independents or Republicans — look at Andrew Cuomo trying to run against the establishment and they laugh. Andrew Cuomo is the establishment,” Lazio said during a Memorial Day parade in Queens yesterday.
The former Republican congressman from Long Island went on to criticize Cuomo — the state’s popular attorney general who is considered difficult to beat in the race to replace departing Gov. Paterson — for being self-centered and too ambitious.
“It’s always about him, so people want someone who’s going to stick up for the average common taxpayer, who will do the right thing . . . not somebody who manipulates and massages to get to the next political bullet point on their résumé.”
With the Republican convention set to start today in Manhattan, Lazio avoided picking on Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, the Democrat-turned-Republican who state GOP Chairman Ed Cox is backing for the nomination.
He also ducked questions about reported chaos in the ranks of the state party, as insiders say Cox’s chairmanship is on the rocks, particularly if he can’t deliver for his own favored candidate.
Levy must win at least 50.1 percent of the weighted vote at the convention to get his name on the primary ballot.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with that. All I know is I’m absolutely confident I will be the nominee of the Republican Party,” Lazio said.