Then came the surprise special election win by 24-year-old Eric Ulrich, who not only won a full term earlier this month, but was returned to City Hall with two more Queens Republicans: Peter Koo, a first-generation Chinese-American, and Dan Halloran, the Council’s first-ever Theodist. Together, they have expanded the conference along the generational, racial and religious spectrums, bringing major changes to the definition of Council Republicans on the same day that former Minority Leader Tom Ognibene was crushed in his attempted return to his old seat in a neighboring Queens district.
Now, said Council Minority Leader Jimmy Oddo, the plan is twofold: stick to the traditional, fiscally conservative message, and keep building influence.
“Our first job is to build coalitions,” he said. “There are plenty of moderate and conservative Democrats. If they see a vocal group of Council members among their colleagues, they can come along.”
On a 51-member Council, Republicans acknowledge their five-man coalition will have limited influence. But on pocketbook issues, such as reducing water rates or property taxes, Halloran expects the bloc to help empower a different kind of geographic focus than he has seen to date.
“We have to make sure that the outer boroughs do not get shafted by an innerborough mentality,” Halloran said.
This alliance would likely include lawmakers from neighborhoods with predominantly one- and two-family homes, including Peter Vallone, Jr., James Vacca, Simcha Felder and Lew Fidler. Ulrich said he believes these moderate Democrats had benefited as much as anyone on election night.
“They’re going to be courted more heavily than before and have a lot more influence,” Ulrich said.
Vallone expressed excitement about the Republican pickups, saying he would now have a greater opportunity to shape legislation.
“It will help slow the all-out rush to the left that was happening,” Vallone said. “Now, the mayor also might be able to think about the Council preventing the override of a veto.”
The Council Republicans also believe that victories by seven Working Families Party-backed candidates on primary night have actually made Republicans more influential.
Oddo said he believes a more fractured Council will lead a WFP faction and non- WFP Democrats alike to come calling on Republicans for votes, which could then be leveraged to benefit their districts.
“Both sides will be calling on us to support or stop legislation,” Oddo said.
The Council is also expected to be more assertive in opposing Mayor Michael Bloomberg over the next four years, given his narrower than expected margin of victory over Bill Thompson, setting up more close votes during which the GOP members could play a role.
On some issues, Oddo—whose own strong record on labor issues made him the only Republican in the city to earn the cross-endorsement of the WFP this year—believes Republicans may find common ground with the WFP.
The WFP appears to agree with this assessment.
“There are a lot of issues on which we see eye-to-eye with New York City Republicans,” said a party source.
But here too, there will be some
fractures. Ulrich has already signed onto a Paid Family Medical Leave bill, for instance, that is one of the WFP’s biggest priorities, while his GOP colleagues are unlikely to come along.
Meanwhile, the form of the Republican conference is already taking shape.
Even as the final votes for Halloran’s unexpected Council win were being tallied, the freshman Councilman-elect was eying Oddo’s job as the minority leader. With victories by Halloran and Koo, the Queens members now outnumber Staten Island members by a margin of 3 to 2.
But a day after the election, Ulrich called Oddo and put an end to the speculation, pledging to vote to retain him as minority leader.
“He’s a steady hand, and he already has a strong connection and relationship with the powers that be,” Ulrich said. Oddo said that given the diversity of the Republican conference and their tenuous grips on their seats, his philosophy as leader would be to allow members to vote their consciences on legislation.
Council Member Vincent Ignizio, meanwhile, is expected to cede his minority whip position to Ulrich, in a nod to the new power of Queens Republicans in the conference. Traditionally, the conference’s leadership positions have been split between boroughs, which was, of course, impossible when the ranks were reduced to the two Staten Island members.
With the State Senate hanging in the balance in 2010, speculation has already ramped up about whether members of the Council GOP conference—who have shown the rare ability to win as Republicans in New York City—could be plucked by Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos to run for the Senate.
Ulrich is seen as a likely candidate to take on State Sen. Joe Addabbo, whose Council seat he now holds. Halloran, meanwhile, is seen as a potential replacement for Republican Sen. Frank Padavan, should he decide to retire.
But for now, the Republicans are tamping down such speculation, and still basking in the afterglow of their big wins.
“If you’re a fan of democracy, you have to be happy with what happened on Election Day,” Oddo said. “With three, we did the best we could. With five, things are going to be different.”
