Suozzi Launches Democratic Campaign For Governor of New York; Pledges to Fix Albany

Suozzi Launches Democratic Campaign For Governor of New York

Nassau County Executive Pledges to Fix Albany: "I know I can do it -- because I've done it."

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi today launched a reform campaign for Governor at a boisterous rally in his hometown, pledging to fix the mess in Albany, take back the State government from special interests, and make it work for the people again.

Standing alongside his family, outside his grandparents' former home, Suozzi told a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters that his record of reform and results in Nassau County, as well as his Fix Albany campaign, makes him uniquely qualified to clean up the state's dysfunctional government.

"Now more than ever, New York needs a governor who is going to shake things up. New York needs a strong chief executive with a proven record of government reform and results. New York needs a skilled manager who knows how to balance budgets and tame bureaucracies. New York needs an independent leader who owes nothing to the insiders and the lobbyists and answers only to you! Today, I tell you again: I can do it because I've done it!" said Suozzi.

Suozzi made his announcement outside the childhood home of his father, the Honorable Joseph A. Suozzi. Judge Suozzi, a decorated World War II veteran and graduate of Fordham and Harvard Law School, served as Mayor of Glen Cove and sat on the New York State Supreme Court, as well as its Appellate Division.

"After swearing Tom in four times as Mayor of Glen Cove, four years ago I had the privilege of swearing him in as the first Democratic Nassau County Executive since 1970. Tom's career of public service has been outstanding and one of which all his family and friends are extremely proud. He was born to leadership: he is a natural, a doer, and a visionary," said Judge Suozzi in his introduction of the County Executive.

Tom Suozzi was elected to four terms as Mayor of Glen Cove, serving from 1993-2001. In 2001, Suozzi ran as an outsider candidate for the Democratic nomination for Nassau County Executive. After upsetting the establishment candidate, Suozzi defeated the nominee of the Nassau County Republican machine, one of the largest and most powerful Republican organizations in the United States, and became the first Democratic County Executive in Nassau in over 30 years.

From there, Suozzi led a dramatic turnaround of America's "worst-run county," which won him praise from editorial boards around New York and from Governing magazine, which named Suozzi one of its public officials of the year in 2005.

"It wasn't easy, but a combination of common-sense reform, old-style discipline, new ideas, and market-oriented innovations put Nassau back on the right track. Four years later, Nassau County has been called one of the most dramatic financial turnarounds in the country. Independent bond rating agencies have upgraded our financial status 11 straight times, more than any other municipality in the United States. And we did it all without cutting vital services.

"In fact, the constraints we were under led us to figure out ways to deliver more services, more efficiently, to more people. I'm especially proud of our No Wrong Door policy for social services. No Wrong Door took a bureaucratic maze that was preventing our neediest citizens from getting the services they needed and transformed it into a national model—and we helped more people and saved money," said Suozzi.

In his opening remarks, Nassau County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs said the candidate's independence and his courage has the State's political establishment nervous.

"Why are the establishment and the special interests so afraid of Tom Suozzi? Because he has beaten them time and again and they know that as Governor of the State of New York, their days at the public trough are over. They know that unlike the others in the race-Tom Suozzi is the one candidate who will get elected and not be beholden to them."

Suozzi told the crowd that the only way to change how Albany does business is to stop playing it safe.

"I invite all those who really want to do something—to fix Albany and to take back our government from the lobbyists and the insiders and the special interests and return it to the people of this State—to join me and to know that real change in New York is ours for the taking. New York was built by the risk-takers. Let us find strength in that tradition. I know we can succeed. I know we will succeed; I know we will fix Albany. Today, I tell New York: working together, we can, and we will, bring a better future to our State. I know we can do it, because we have already done it.

http://tomsuozzi.com/announcements/20060225_announce/