3 more Dems want on attorney general ballot

By CARA MATTHEWS
ALBANY BUREAU
The Journal News

ALBANY — Three Democratic candidates for attorney general and their entourages flooded the state Board of Elections yesterday to file petitions that will force a September primary against frontrunner Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo and the former federal housing secretary, won the party's endorsement at its convention in May. None of his four challengers received a sufficient percentage of votes at the convention to get them on the ballot automatically. That forced them to collect 15,000 petition signatures statewide to stay in the race.

Denise O'Donnell dropped out of the race last month. But the others, Mark Green, Charlie King and Sean Patrick Maloney, delivered thousands of petitions yesterday just hours before the deadline. In doing so, each declared that he was the candidate of the people, not the party bosses.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Maloney and his assistants unloaded boxes of petitions containing more than 47,000 voter signatures. Maloney said he wanted to make sure there were extra in case any opponents challenged the validity of his petitions.

"Every one is an individual voter and a story of someone who wants to do something different this year, do something new," said Maloney, an attorney who lives in Manhattan.

King, a New City resident who ran as Andrew Cuomo's lieutenant governor candidate four years ago, delivered more than 51,000 signatures to take on his former ally.

"Fifty-one thousand New Yorkers have put me on the ballot today, as opposed to Andrew Cuomo, who had 300 politicians get him on the ballot a month ago," King said. He has spoken out against the number of signatures required to be on the ballot, saying the process is undemocratic.

Mark Green, the former New York City public advocate, delivered his petitions yesterday afternoon with 40,434 signatures.

"The Cuomo camp used all their political power to keep me off the ballot because they're obviously worried that my record will beat his record when voters compare us," Green said in a statement. "So today marks the first major defeat for Andrew Cuomo because now there will be a contest, not a coronation. May the best advocate win."

Wendy Katz, a Cuomo spokeswoman, countered that Democrats across the state are supporting the former housing secretary, "a proven fighter for justice, over the mean Green attack machine."

As for whether Cuomo would try to knock any rivals off the ballot by challenging the validity of the signatures, she said: "We fully expect all candidates for attorney general to file legally sufficient petitions ... we will take a look if there's fraud."

Jeanine Pirro, former Westchester County district attorney, is the Republican candidate and faces no primary opponents. Current Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is running for governor.

Among other petition filers this week

• Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi filed to challenge Spitzer in a primary. (John Faso, a former state assemblyman, is the Republican candidate for governor.)

• Anti-war candidate Jonathan Tasini submitted papers to force a Democratic primary against U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton this fall. His reams of bound, green signature sheets contained more than 40,000 voter signatures, he said.