Golisano & Pigeon Want to Shake Up the State Senate

Kathy Konst’s bid for the Democratic nomination to run against Chris Lee to replace Tom “kiddie shield” Reynolds has ended as abruptly as it began. Instead, Konst will enter the race to replace Dale Volker, the cantankerous 30+ year State Senator from district 59 who spends a lot of time patting himself on the back when he’s not screaming at people.

Even more interesting than the Konst about-face is what’s behind it. Evidently, Rochester’s Tom Golisano has decided to form a 527 PAC to support candidates who will shake up the State Senate. From the Capitol News:

A source familiar with Golisano’s thinking said the former gubernatorial candidate plans to spend $1 million of his own money on behalf of each candidate he supports. This includes targeting several incumbents, including at least one who was not previously in danger. Golisano could also potentially involve himself in contested Assembly primaries.

The source said Golisano plans on supporting candidates who share his agenda of reforming Albany, reforming the state budget and promoting economic development upstate, particularly in the region around Buffalo which he calls home.

Candidates will mainly be Democrats, but Golisano will consider endorsing Republicans in the races. Candidates will need to be moderate, committed to Golisano’s agenda and not aligned with career politicians, according to the source.

Golisano’s political website, http://www.golisano.com, which has remained dormant since his announcement that he would not run for governor in 2006, was updated June 27 with a teaser to “Stay tuned for an important announcement coming soon.”

Golisano will be supporting Erie County Legislator Kathy Konst (D) in her bid to unseat State Sen. Dale Volker (R-Erie), former boxer Joe Mesi (D) in his primary bid to succeed retiring Sen. Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie) and former State Sen. Rick Dollinger (D-Monroe) in his bid to unseat Sen. Joe Robach (R-Monroe), though Golisano is unlikely to announce these specific candidates at his press conference next week.

Golisano’s decision whether to also back Assembly candidates hasn’t been finalized, but he has contemplated supporting Barbara Kavanaugh’s primary challenge against Sam Hoyt. There are also rumors that Golisano may recruit other business leaders who are not content with the state of Albany “leadership” who might be willing to put their money where their mouths are. People like Carl Paladino.

And there are larger issues as well from a party political perspective:

Golisano’s chief political advisor is former Erie County Democratic Chair Steve Pigeon, who is expected to play a major role in the new PAC. Some say Pigeon’s fingerprints can already be seen on the Konst and Mesi endorsements.

Konst is the most surprising move of the Golisano involvement, given her May announcement that she was seeking the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-Erie). Golisano offered his support if she switched to the Senate race in a meeting last week. Konst, who according to sources was floundering in her bid to secure petition signatures for her late start congressional bid and was circulating Senate petitions at the same time, began telling people over the weekend that she had made the change.

And every once in a while, in the middle of an interesting story about political maneuvering, you find a statement that’s hilarious in its stupidity:

According to former East Aurora Mayor Dave DiPietro (R), who is running a primary challenge to Volker, Konst’s husband, politically active attorney Harry Konst, told him last week that Golisano promised $1 million to support his wife’s Senate bid.

Harry Konst, who is managing his wife’s campaign, claimed he has not discussed the Senate bid with her and said he did not know who Golisano is.

Why Volker? Ask Paladino:

Palladino said he plans to do anything he can to support DiPietro in his bid and hopes to see him unseat Volker in the primary. He did not rule out assisting Konst in a general election, but noted he would prefer the Senate to remain Republican. Palladino said he opposes Volker’s support for what he defines as anti-business legislation and for being in Albany too long.

“I’ve thought of him as a friend,” Palladino said. “His shelf life is over. He thinks everything is fine in Albany. Albany is murdering upstate New York. Even Barack Obama would be a better alternative to Dale Volker. And that’s bad for me.”

It’s an interesting development that helps un-muddy NY-26, helps push along the effort to rid Albany of Dale Volker, and if nothing else expands options available to voters. The problem is that with Pigeon’s involvement, it loses a great deal of its political appeal. There’s no grassroots effort – any argument that this is a way to stick it to the party bosses is lost with him in the mix.

Also, I’ve been watching what DiPietro’s been doing, and I think he’s an excellent replacement for Volker. Not so much because I know a damn thing about him, except that East Aurora’s former mayor is being advised by Ostrowski, and he’s been endorsed by Primary Challenge. His campaign sent out a media advisory last week indicating that the Erie County Republican Committee, which is backing Volker, had sent some young goon to videotape DiPietro’s campaign announcement speech. But that person wasn’t taping the speech, but the crowd. Soon afterwards, people in the crowd began receiving threats – veiled and overt – about supporting a candidate who is running in a primary against another Republican.

Say one thing about the Democrats, we may bicker and argue and primary each other, but I’m not that aware of people threatening other people’s livelihoods if they do so.