By Anna Gustafson
More than 50 borough Republican candidates, activists and party leaders spent much of Saturday learning the ins and outs of running a campaign in the “candidate’s school” hosted by the Queens County GOP.
Republican officials instructed fellow party members, as well as some independents and Democrats, on a variety of campaign−related topics, from fund−raising to working with the media, at the Queens GOP headquarters in Whitestone.
“The idea behind the school is that people want to run for office, but they often have no idea how to run,” said Queens GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa. “We wanted to give them an overview of what has to be done.”
Republicans are far outnumbered by Democrats in Queens and the city, and Ragusa said he hopes Saturday’s five−hour class will energize members of the GOP to run for office.
Republicans lost seats nationwide in the last election, and Republicans are the minority party in the state Senate for the first time since 1964.
“We are getting a renewed interest in our party, and more and more people are coming to our meetings,” Ragusa said. “We’re getting young people, too.”
A good chunk of Saturday was devoted to using new media, such as the Web sites Facebook and YouTube — which Ragusa and Daniel Egers, executive director of the Queens Republican Party, said help broadcast the candidates’ messages to younger voters.
To broaden the Republicans’ base, instructors said candidates should appeal to Hispanic voters by translating information in leaflets and on campaign Web sites into Spanish.
“Hispanics tend to be very politically active, so you want to engage them,” said Jhon Lonbono, vice president of Woodside−based 360 Consultants, which helps to run the Queens GOP Web site. “Come Nov. 4, you’d hate to find out you lost the election because you could have gotten Hispanic votes.”
Robert Hornak, deputy director of state Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco’s (R−Schenectady) city office and a candidate for Queens borough president, organized the event with Jay Golub, a former candidate for public advocate and president of GSB Consulting. Hornak addressed campaign finance laws, while Golub discussed campaign basics, including how to decide to run.
Bob Friedrich, a Democrat running for the 23rd Council District, said he wanted to attend Saturday’s session to “see what’s going on with Republicans.”
“My campaign has always been about transcending party labels,” Friedrich said. “I’ve always voted for the person, not the party. For example, I supported [state Sen.] Frank Padavan [R−Bellerose] because he’s always been there for the community.”
Dan Halloran, a Republican candidate for the 19th Council District, called Saturday “very helpful.” City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside) currently holds the seat for the 19th District, which covers Whitestone, North Flushing, Bayside, Beechhurst, Malba, College Point, Little Neck, Douglas Manor, and Douglaston. Avella is running for mayor.
“It’s good they’re looking at addressing all the issues, like Web pages and blogging,” Halloran said. “These are things Barack Obama and Ron Paul were able to explode with.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.
