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This belongs to you. Take it back...
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Andrew Saul 
Tue Nov 20, 2007 at 16:53:42 PM EST
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Wow. Didn't see this one coming. Millionaire Republican fashion magnate Andrew Saul, who was widely expected to essentially self finance his challenge to freshman Rep. John Hall, is dropping out.
NY-19: Andrew Saul dropping out
In a stunning development, wealthy businessman Andrew Saul (R) is making calls to inform supporters and GOP insiders that he is dropping his candidacy in New York's 19th District. Saul was widely regarded as a strong Republican recruit to take on freshman Democratic Cong. John Hall (D). Saul's ability to self-finance and the Republican-tilt of the district made it a top GOP target. But now, his exit from the race leaves Republicans looking for a credible challenger.
As for that credible challenger, Kieran Michael Lalor ain't it. Will Assemblyman (and wingnut extraordinaire) Greg Ball jump in?
I hope so.
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Fri Nov 02, 2007 at 13:24:52 PM EDT
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Andrew Saul has decided it's easier not to fight for more money from the state to avoid a costly MTA rate hike than it is to accept the status quo CW and do nothing.
And he's running for Congress?
Yesterday's Daily News quotes Saul:
I don't think it's prudent to expect, based on past dealings with Albany, that we're going to get any additional amount of money to cover the fare increase if we held it off.
Er, and those past dealings were with Gov. George Pataki...and, earth to Andrew, GP is no longer Governor. What this sounds like to me is:
Hey, I'm loaded (so loaded that I'm self-funding a Congressional campaign) and a fare increase doesn't do jack to my bottom line. AND I'm the vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, so I say, "Let 'em ride cake."
Who does this guy want to represent again? The commuters who live in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties?
If elected to Congress, I guess we'd see this kind of "representation" in Washington...where he won't fight for federal dollars for the 19th District. After all, it's easier to accept the status quo than it is to fight for your constituents.
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Wed May 23, 2007 at 09:27:48 AM EDT
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This morning's Poughkeepsie Journal has a piece about the Republicans lining up to lose to NY-19's freshman Rep John Hall. The story talks about Andrew Saul, the millionaire fashion mogul who I've written about before as well as freshman Assemblyman and wingnut extraordinaire Greg Ball.
But the story contains a really choice quote from a challenger I hadn't heard of before, one Kieran Lalor, an Iraq War vet and Marine reservist. While I certainly appreciate and applaud Mr Lalor's patriotism and service to the country, I have serious doubts about his political instincts.
Lalor, a Marine Corps reservist whose law school studies were interrupted by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and again in 2003 by a six-month stint in Iraq, said despite his financial disadvantage, his anti-abortion, pro-Iraq war platform make him more in tune with the district's voters than Hall or Saul.
"Andrew Saul is John Hall in a business suit," Lalor said. "He's wrong on the war, on national security, immigration, abortion. He's Sue Kelly all over again."
Lalor said support from veterans would help him restore the district to Republicans.
I spent a lot of time in the 19th last year and I think I can say with some degree of certainty that the residents and voters of the district aren't exactly big fans of the war. In fact, some of the most vigorous opponents of the war I met last year were the very veterans Mr. Lalor hopes will put him over the top.
More on the flip...
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There's More...
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Thu Apr 19, 2007 at 14:35:15 PM EDT
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Well, it looks like Kirsten Gillibrand won't be the only freshman Rep from New York to draw millionaire Republican challenger. Word has it that local GOoPers in the 19th have convinced Andrew Saul, the Chairman of Cache'Inc., a women's fashion retailer. Saul, much like "Sandy" Treadwell, is expected to largely self finance his campaign against John Hall. The subscription only Roll Call has the scoop:
Millionaires Poised to Take GOP Fight to N.Y. Freshmen
Two Republican multimillionaires are poised to jump into Congressional races in adjoining New York districts where upstart
Democrats ousted GOP incumbents last fall, sources in the Empire State and Washington, D.C., said this week.
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And Republican leaders believe they have persuaded Andrew Saul, a veteran of the fashion industry and the investment world, to run against Rep. John Hall (D) in the Hudson Valley's 19th district. He may formally enter the race before the end of the month.
Both Saul, the chairman of Caché Inc., the women's fashion manufacturer and retailer, and Treadwell, an heir to the General Electric fortune, are longtime donors to Republican candidates and causes, and both are expected to wage free-spending campaigns to defeat the Democratic freshmen.
"We're confident we can win both seats back," said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Another Republican gets much closer to the truth as I see it:
Another veteran New York GOP strategist predicted that Hall, a former pop star, would be harder to defeat than many Republicans realize because his district is rapidly moving to the left. Both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and now-Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) racked up huge margins in the 19th district in 2006.
"The only way I can see a Republican taking back that seat is if the Republican Party nominates Rudy Giuliani for president," said the strategist, Mike Edelman, who is based in Westchester County. "Otherwise, I think it's gone over to the other side for a long time."
Sounds about right to me.
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