He just wants to be known as “Citizen Bob.’’
Republican Bob Turner gets sworn in today in as the new congressman to sit in disgraced Anthony Weiner’s former Queens-Brooklyn House seat — but Turner insisted yesterday he won’t let the job go to his head.
His upset victory in an overwhelmingly Democratic district — while campaigning against President Obama’s policies — has turned him into an instant national GOP folk hero.
Last night, Turner received a standing ovation from the GOP faithful attending the New York State Republican Committee’s annual fund-raising dinner at the Sheraton Midtown.
“It’s very important not to believe your own p.r. Keep it real. I now have a job to do,’’ he told The Post earlier in the day, hours after his resounding win over Democrat David Weprin.
“I haven’t lost sight of the fact that this is a job to represent the people of the 9th Congressional District. They haven’t had representation for three months. We’ll fix that and we’ll do the job right.’’
He said his first priorities are organizing his congressional office and finding a place to live in DC.
Turner said he had received congratulatory calls from Mayor Bloomberg and Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, who had formerly held Turner’s seat.
And Weprin finally called yesterday to concede the race that ended with Turner getting 54 percent of the vote to the Democrat’s 46 percent.
Turner quipped that he hadn’t heard from Obama or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
As for his sports loyalties, he’s a Met baseball and Giant football fan. He enjoys reading about American history and listening to classical music.
As he munched on a hot dog in Midtown yesterday, he chatted with tourists from Louisiana — telling them he’d served at an Army base there.
As for policy positions, Turner said the president’s $447 billion jobs plan is a “good starting point’’ but requires further negotiations.
Turner — who was elected with overwhelming Jewish support — stressed he won’t compromise on Israel policy. “We’re inviting the president to come over to a more positive side on Israel,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Turner’s victory complicates the state Legislature’s difficult task of having to eliminate two congressional seats in line with the 2010 Census count.
It was assumed Weiner’s seat would have been eliminated had Weprin won.
But now state Republicans are likely to seek to protect Turner’s seat in redistricting negotiations, with other districts now held by Democrats possibly being targeted.
“We’re going to keep that seat for a long time. Turner won that seat and we’re going to do what we can to keep him there for years to come,” said State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau).
Two of the potentially targeted districts are represented by longtime incumbent Maurice Hinchey in the mid-Hudson Valley and newly elected Kathy Hochul in western New York.
Additional reporting by