GOPers use Blas ads to deNounce rivals
Embattled Republicans are banking on an old foe — Mayor de Blasio — to help them in this year’s state Senate races.
The local GOP is bombarding voters with TV ads and mailers linking Democratic candidates to Hizzoner in an all-out effort to hold onto their tenuous control of the chamber.
In the final days of campaigning, de Blasio is expected to be featured as a bogeyman in a halfdozen contested races in Nassau County, LI, and the Hudson Valley, GOP sources said.
GOP candidate Chris McGrath — vying for convicted crook Dean Skelos’ old Senate seat in Nassau — has produced a TV spot tying Democratic incumbent Todd Kaminsky to a shady $50,000 donation generated by two de Blasio cronies.
Kaminsky, a former federal prosecutor and assemblyman, narrowly defeated McGrath in the special election in the 8th District to replace Skelos in April.
The 30-second ad shows footage of Kaminsky saying, “Bill de Blasio wouldn’t know me if I ran him over with a horse carriage.”
A narrator then says, “Really?! Kaminsky must have forgotten all the money he got from Mr. de Blasio to fund his campaign.”
Kaminsky’s camp has denied soliciting the donation.
Meanwhile, in the 6th District in Nassau, GOP incumbent Kemp Hannon produced a mailer that paints Democratic challenger Ryan Cronin as a de Blasio crony.
The ad shows Cronin’s face and a stack of $100 bills peeking out of a suit coat’s breast pocket.
“He’s in the pocket of Bill de Blasio and the corrupt NYC politicians!” it reads.
Senate Democrats scoffed that the GOP effort was only a desperate attempt to divert attention after two more Nassau Republicans — County Executive Ed Mangano and Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto — were arrested in alleged pay-to-play scams last week.
“It’s a nice try by the Republicans to distract from the fact that the Nassau GOP machine was just proven to be a cesspool of corruption,” said Senate Democratic Campaign Committee spokesman Mike Murphy. “The people of New York will see through this tired and fake attempt.”
Still, a maverick Bronx Demo- crat may have the most sway over who controls the Senate.
State Sen. Jeff Klein heads a faction of six Democratic dissidents, the Independent Democratic Conference, which has been part of a governing coalition with GOP senators since 2010.
At present, there are 31 GOP senators in the 63-member chamber, short of a numerical majority.