Here’s my follow up to last week’s “Albany Insider” column on a married lesbian’s bid for the Conservative Party line in state Senate bid:
Sticking to his guns, the head of the state Conservative Party — an opponent of gay marriage — said he won’t let a married lesbian run on his party’s line for a state Senate seat.
State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long — who has previously said he won’t support any Republican who voted to legalize gay marriage — told the Daily News he’ll turn his back on Janis Castaldi “because she supports gay marriage.”
Castaldi’s candidacy delivered quite the surprise to Long’s camp, as The News reported last week.
The former Ossining deputy mayor and village trustee is taking on first-term Sen. David Carlucci, a Rockland County Democrat.
Castaldi got the backing of the Republican Party committees in Westchester and Rockland Counties, and she also got the support of the Conservative Party branches in both counties, in part because local leaders were not aware she and her partner tied the knot in Connecticut in 2009.
Long holds the cards, however, because Castaldi needs a waiver from the state Conservative Party to run on its line, since she is not registered as a Conservative and the senate district crosses county lines.
Long said he has never spoken to Castaldi — and that doesn’t matter. “She may be the nicest person in the world. She may be the most conservative person in the world,” Long said, “but we, the Conservative Party executive committee, drew a line in the sand on the issue of same-sex marriage, and anyone who is for it will not be getting our endorsement.”
Long said Westchester County Conservative Party chairman Hugh Fox told him the party is no longer circulating Castaldi’s nominating petitions. She can still run on the Republican line.
Erica Pelletreau, a spokeswoman for the Empire State Pride Agenda, called Long’s treatment of Castaldi a “disturbing, vicious and mean-spirited attack.”
“To make our lives and our dignity a litmus test frankly is despicable,” she said.
THE FOLLOWING WAS CUT FOR SPACE IN PRINT VERSION:
Castaldi recently told the News she believes she should e allowed to run as a conservative based on her fiscal views. She said the fact that she’s in a same-sex marriage shouldn’t matter since the issue has been decided by the state already.
Long said it’s likely the Conservative line in the Carlucci race could be vacant come Election Day.
Even without it, Castaldi, a registered Republican, can still run on that party’s line.
