The days of Brooklyn being a one-party borough may be numbered.
That after the Theodore “Teddy” Ghorra was unanimously chosen today in a State-run GOP reorganizational meeting as the new chair of the Kings County Republican Party.
“New York’s Republican Party has a proud history of accomplishments. We have elected and supported statesmen, Senators, Mayors, Governors, State Senators, Members of Congress, Assembly members, and – on occasion – Presidents. And with that bit of background, I am very excited about what we have ahead of us. We have a good team and have begun to lay the groundwork for real party building, voter registration, candidate selection, fundraising, and outreach into the many diverse communities that make up our dynamic borough,” said Ghorra, a Bay Ridge attorney.
“I look forward to bringing a positive party message citywide and statewide. I am excited to work with the many people who have been involved in Brooklyn politics for a long time, as well as the many new friends who have come to the fore in recent months to get involved. I also appreciate the recent outreach from the many folks who have stood on the sideline for too long,” he added.
The Party’s lack of power in Brooklyn has long been self-inflicted due to it being fractured between two factions – those that support State Sen. Marty Golden (Brooklyn’s only wholly elected GOP representative) and those that support former Chair Craig Eaton.
These factions, which have been going at it for several years, elected two County chairs earlier this year and culminated in Kings County Supreme Court Judge Edgar G. Walker ordering a do over of the September 30, 2015 Brooklyn GOP reorganizational convention.
Further, he ordered New York State Republican Party Chair Edward F. Cox to run the do-over and Cox in turn ordered Richmond County Republican Chair John Antoniello, to preside over today’s meeting. Eaton’s faction, including, their choice for County chair, former Dyker Heights Assemblyman Arnaldo Ferraro, decided to boycott the meeting and thus Ghorra was elected unanimously.
But following his selection Ghorra maintained his long-standing goal of uniting the factions for the good of both the Party and the borough so that there is more real choice for voters.
“We owe it to ourselves as a party, to the citizenry of our borough, city and state, and all the individuals and families who deserve real options in the selection of public officials for the betterment of our communities. I sincerely look forward to working with an expanded party and organization to accomplish the many goals we have discussed over the course of the last year. There are many good things to come, we will have some fun along the way, and I will not look back and call on everyone to move forward. There is too much work to do and precious little time for petty politics,” said Ghorra.
Among Ghorra’s strongest supporters is Brooklyn Young Republican Club President Brandon Washington, a young African-American veteran from East New York.
“I’m really excited. This is what my club expected. I supported him (Ghorra) and we all banded together so we can finally unify a fractured Party,” said Washington. “I can’t speak for Craig Eaton, but Ted’s character will speak for itself. Most people know he’s open to bringing in people from Eaton’s side, and as we begin to work together and time goes by Ted’s side will show that he’s open to being inclusive and put the party’s platform above old issues.”
Washington cautioned the borough may not see a change overnight into a legitimate two-party system. Brooklyn is the bluest of blue boroughs in the city, but as the GOP begins fundraising and organizing campaigns and doing outreach into all of Brooklyn’s diverse communities, that change will come, he said.
“One of the beautiful things about Ted is he is committed to diversifying the party from different backgrounds. He’s more concerned with getting the right candidates. If you have a great idea, the entire GOP will galvanize and support you,” he said.
“The funny thing about the Democrats in Brooklyn is since they already have New York City in the bag, to maintain that power they want to have established politicians in place so they won’t give just anyone a shot to run for public office. To us, we need to get a toehold and pick people from those communities based solely on their good ideas and desire to run. You won’t get that from the establishment.”
