Pol caught in Jeter rundown
touts ‘endorsement,’ then backs off
IT LOOKED like City Council candidate Ronnie Cho was about to hit a home run with an endorsement from Derek Jeter — but he wound up striking out after a spokesman said the revered shortstop didn’t endorse the candidate after all.
Cho’s campaign blasted out a press release early Monday with an eye-catching headline: “Former NY Yankees Shortstop Derek Jeter Endorses Ronnie Cho for New York City Council, District 2.”
It included a glowing quote from Jeter, which said the two met through the shortstop’s Turn 2 foundation and ended with Jeter quoted as saying: “That is why I’m proud to support him on his run for New York City Council, District 2 and I urge you to support him too on September 12th.”
But a spokesman for Turn 2 told the Daily News that they’d never approved that line of the press release.
“Derek does not endorse any political candidates, so this is no different. He was speaking to Ronnie’s character and the relationship he and the foundation had with Ronnie,” Tom Corsillo, a spokesman for Turn 2, said.
Cho’s campaign said that due to a “communications mixup,” a draft release had been sent out prematurely — but a corrected version was being sent, and Cho looked forward to working with Jeter to empower city youth.
Back in May, Cho posted on Twitter about meeting his idol.
“They say you should never meet you(r) heroes because they’ll always let you down,” Cho wrote on Twitter. “I’m happy to tell you that isn’t always the case!”
The tweet was accompanied by a picture of the two of them, and a note from Jeter thanking Cho for working on behalf of the foundation.
Turn 2 took no issue with the rest of the statement in Cho’s press release, which praised Cho, a former staffer to President Obama, as a role model to youth.
It certainly wouldn’t be typical for Jeter — a beloved ballplayer who studiously avoids anything that might amount to controversy — to wade into a mostly under-the-radar primary for a Lower East Side Council seat.
Cho has picked up support from other bold-faced names, including fellow Obama White House alumni David Axelrod and Kal Penn, who starred in the Harold and Kumar movies.
The race is one of several primary bids for open Council seats that will be decided at the polls tomorrow, which are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
At the top of the Democratic ticket, Mayor de Blasio will face challengers Sal Albanese, Robert Gangi, Richard Bashner and Michael Tolkin in the mayoral primary. Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis does not face a primary challenge.