Assembly Member Felix Ortiz has been growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of Latinos in statewide office or citywide office in New York City. Especially in a year when nearly every statewide race will either be open or feature an appointed official running for the first time, he believes, the time has come for someone for the Latino community to run.
And in the past few weeks, Ortiz confirmed, he and others have been starting to think that someone is him.
“Everyone this year is running for their life,” he said. “And this is a great opportunity.”
Ortiz said he has not made any final decisions about 2010, but is planning to open a statewide exploratory committee by March.
Ortiz refused to say whether he is expecting to file that committee with the state Board of Elections, as he would need to for a run for comptroller, or with the Federal Elections Commission, as he would need to for a run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Ortiz is rumored to be leaning more toward a primary against Comptroller Tom DiNapoli if he does run. But in a conversation outside the Assembly chamber on Tuesday afternoon, the Brooklyn Assemblyman left the door open to either race as he pressed the idea of having a Latino in statewide office.
“The Democratic and Republican parties need to have a clear understanding of the major role that Hispanics are playing in politics today,” he said, “and for us not to have representation, whether it’s putting a face to run against Gillibrand at this point—who’s the weakest link—whether it’s running for comptroller, to see an opportunity for a Hispanic to get elected. Or whether somebody comes out and runs for governor, or somebody comes out and runs for lieutenant governor.”
Ortiz was one of the hopefuls who had submitted his name to the screening panel to replace Alan Hevesi as state comptroller in early 2007. He made clear that he still harbors some resentment that neither the panel, nor the Legislature which ultimately voted independently of that panel, had picked him.
“We had a wonderful opportunity for the Democrats to make history when Alan Hevesi stepped down,” Ortiz said. “We chose not to—not because we didn’t have a credible candidate, not because we didn’t have a good candidate, bottom line is the Democratic Party chose not to give a Hispanic an opportunity statewide.”
As for the man whom the Legislature did pick, Ortiz said, “Tom DiNapoli is a great friend. I have a great deal of respect for him. But the reality, when you talk about substance, is that he might have done a few things which I commend him for, but there’s more to be done, and I think you need to be more aggressive.”
The Senate seat is also under consideration, he said—with or without former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford in the race.
“Ford don’t have nothing to do with what we’re trying to do,” he said.
The only race Ortiz would completely rule out is one to succeed Andrew Cuomo, if Cuomo makes his anticipated announcement or a gubernatorial candidacy instead of seeking re-election.
“I am not an attorney, so I would not run for attorney general, that’s for sure,” Ortiz said.
Whatever he decides to run for, Ortiz said, would be on behalf of giving his community what he sees as its fair representation in state politics.
“It never has been easy for Hispanics. It never has been handed to Hispanics the way it has been handed to other communities,” he said. “So I think that sometimes, you might have to go the hard way, it might be the easy way.”
Ortiz said he has not had any discussions with the camps of Paterson or Cuomo about running or being part of a ticket. But relishing the role of the underdog, Ortiz said he would petition his way onto the ballot if necessary and proceed without too much concern about the size of his campaign account ($128,000, as of the July 2009 filing).
“I’m not too much concerned about the fundraising numbers,” he said. “I’m concerned about the poll numbers. The money will come with the polling numbers.”
And if he can make the election competitive, Ortiz insisted, he will.
“We cannot deny the voters what the Founding Fathers fought for so hard—for them to express themselves through their voting powers,” he said. “To deny that, that’s a disgrace.”
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