By Howard Koplowitz
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has tapped City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) to head his campaign operations in New York City.
Ulrich, 26, is a rising star in the Republican Party who was first elected to the Council when he was 24.
He is one of five Republicans on the Council and among three GOP councilmen from Queens.
Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination in the race to decide who will face President Barack Obama in November 2012.
The announcement came from Romney’s New York state chairman, Guy Molinari, the former Staten Island borough president and congressman.
“Since being elected in 2009, Eric Ulrich has emerged as one of the rising stars in the Republican Party,” Molinari said in a statement. “I am honored that he has agreed to work with me to ensure that Gov. Romney assembles a formidable organization here in New York City for our party’s primary and we return New York to the Republican column next November.”
Ulrich said he believes Romney is the best candidate in a crowded Republican field.
“As the debate over our nation’s future reaches a critical stage, I am certain that Gov. Romney has the experience and ideas needed to get our country moving again,” the councilman said in a statement. “In 2009 and 2010 the Republican Party in New York City experienced remarkable gains in city, state and congressional elections. I am looking forward to working with Guy Molinari to build on those successes and elect Mitt Romney the next president of the United States.”
The gains Ulrich was referring to include U.S. Rep. Bob Turner’s (R-Kew Gardens) upset victory in September over state Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) in the special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and the elections of GOP City Councilmen Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone).
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
