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Is the party over for the GOP?

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In Queens the Republican county leaders voted to give their support to former City Councilman Thomas Ognibene, setting the stage for a divisive Republican mayoral race. In other parts of the city Republican leaders hinted that they might not support the mayor in his bid for re-election. The dissident leaders said that Bloomberg is not a true Republican. That's no surprise. But neither was Rudy Giuliani. Since Ognibene is not well known outside of Queens and does not have personal millions to bring to the mayoral race, his candidacy would be largely symbolic. There are presently three Republicans – two more than the Working Families Party – in the City Council and Republicans represent only 13 percent of the city's registered voters. Without City Hall the Republican Party itself is on the verge of becoming largely symbolic.

The best scenario for New York City would be the creation of nonpartisan elections for citywide office. This is not about to happen in the foreseeable future. Without viable opposition candidates, the political forecast for New York City is cloudy at best.