Carl Paladino says New York has a sick governor’s office, a sick Legislature and a sick government.
He’s so sick of it all that he is planning to run for office as the state’s top executive in an effort to bring about the type of change he believes only a self-described “politically incorrect” individual like him can deliver.
“My plan is to turn Albany upside down,” said Paladino, the local real estate developer who recently revamped the former United Office Building, now known as the Giacomo downtown. “We’re going to shake it up and get rid of all the crud that has built up along the edges. We’re going to get rid of all the rats.”
Paladino said he’s fed up with the status quo political regime in New York and is working with local members of the grassroots Tea Party organization on a plan that would allow him to join the gubernatorial race this year. If elected, Paladino promised that he would serve a single term as part of what he called “four years of public service.”
Former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio is in the race as a Republican candidate. Gov. David Paterson plans to run on the Democratic side. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo also has been rumored to be interested in the Democratic Party’s endorsement.
Paladino, a registered Republican, said he has no intention of seeking an endorsement from the statewide GOP, nor would he court leaders in the rival Democratic Party. He said he looks forward to challenging the best either side has to offer, believing very strongly that he could garner enough votes to win from voters who have become disenchanted by what the Republicans and Democrats have had to offer.
“The governor is a joke,” Paladino said. “The Legislature is a joke. They are so off the reservation, they don’t know where they are anymore. We are going to go down there and wreck ’em.”
Western New York’s Tea Party group, headed by Grand Island resident Rus Thompson, plans to be a driving force in forcing as many incumbent candidates as they can out of public office in New York this year.
Thompson said supporters of the party’s principals are looking to support candidates who are willing to demonstrate a commitment to putting average citizens above special interests and downstate power brokers. Thomspon said his group approached Paladino, the president and CEO of Buffalo’s Ellicott Development Co., because he fits the mold of the type of reform-minded candidate it believes New York needs.
“All of the leadership in this state is from the New York City area and we are tired of being ignored and thrown overboard by the status quo,” Thompson said. “We have no representation in Albany, we have no leadership, we have no one to stand up and it is time we have leadership from Western and Upstate New York to lead this state out of its dysfunction, and save us from the economic abyss.”
Paladino said he plans to work with Tea Party leaders in New York in the coming weeks to organize a campaign in an effort to secure a place on the ballot.
“I’ve never run for public office,” Paladino said. “I’ve got a lot of learning to do.”
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