Normally unified Nassau GOP shows signs of some tensions

<p>In the Town of Hempstead, Supervisor Anthony Santino's ethics reform legislation has upset several of his fellow Republicans.</p>

News 12 Staff

Sep 24, 2017, 9:38 PM

Updated 2,406 days ago

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With just weeks to go before county and town elections, the normally unified Nassau Republican Party appears to be showing signs of some fractures.
In the Town of Hempstead, Supervisor Anthony Santino's ethics reform legislation has upset several of his fellow Republicans. A portion of the law limits the outside income of any town lawmakers to $125,000 per year.
As a result, if the law stands, it will effectively knock Santino critics Bruce Blakeman and Erin King Sweeney off the Hempstead Town Board.
This week, for the first time, King Sweeney's father, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), weighed in on the spat.
"The only thing he's really done with his so-called ethics reform is to find a way to knock Erin King Sweeney and Bruce Blakeman off the board," King said.
And at the county level, some there's little GOP unity to be found in the race to fill outgoing Executive Ed Mangano's seat.
Last year, then state Sen. Jack Martins was the first to call for Ed Mangano to resign, just hours after the two-term Republican Nassau county executive was arrested on federal corruption charges. Mangano never did step down, but he's not running for re-election.
Mangano offered to brief the two candidates vying to replace him on his proposed 2018 budget, but Martins refused to even meet with his fellow Republican, saying, "This budget is an unfortunate byproduct of his staying on."
News 12 reached out to Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello for comment this week, but a spokesperson said the chairman was unavailable.


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