Queens GOP Determined to Diversify

Ethnic enclaves have not contributed to the split the Queens County Republican Party is seeking to bridge, but leaders hope focusing on such demographics can help fuse its factions.

The party has traditionally fractured along geographic lines, pitting its southern and northern camps against each other. The most recent schism occurred during a 2013 reorganization meeting that produced dueling party certificates—one with Phil Ragusa as chairman and another with former U.S. Rep. Bob Turner. Last month, state committee members convinced New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox to recognize Turner as the interim Queens party chairman. 

Party leaders say they are working through how to divvy up posts across factions and whether to cross-endorse judicial candidates. All, however, seem to agree on the need for a more diverse Republican base.

“Queens is home to so many people from all over the world. I think the Republican Party, not only in Queens but throughout New York, needs to embrace that,” said the borough’s lone Republican elected official, City Councilman Eric Ulrich. “It’s not enough that for a long time we had white gals and white guys representing every area in the borough.” 

Ulrich noted that Democrats have had success appointing district leaders at large to serve as liaisons for growing immigrant groups that may not have the numbers to elect traditional district leaders. “It’s something that I spoke to Bob Turner about,” he said.

Turner, a retired TV executive, and other party members say they aim to install leaders at their September reorganization meeting who reflect the demographics of every neighborhood, and plan to develop a long-term strategy for integrating leaders from the north and south. Meanwhile, Republican leaders say the party has been holding meetings that merge executive members on both certificates. There are some questions, however, about how depleted the north end’s representation is, with its longtime chairman, Ragusa, dead, its vice chairman, Vincent Tabone, convicted of corruption and its executive director, Robert Hornak, working on an out-of-state project for a few months. 

Two officials once allied with Ragusa, however—First Vice Chairman James McClelland and Executive Director Pierre Alcantara—have been involved in the meetings.

“Yes, there were feelings hurt,” Alcantara said. “Yes, there were people on edge, but I’m happy to say they saw the bigger picture. Either we’re going to let the Republican Party fade away in Queens ... or we’re going to come together.”

Turner anticipates Democratic Queens District Attorney Richard Brown will receive the GOP’s backing, but said there were questions about how to proceed with judicial candidates. Ulrich, however, seems confident the party will keep its door open to judges accustomed to having the Democratic line.

“We have endorsed them in the past. We’ll do that again, I think. It’s important to show unity when it comes to judicial endorsements,” said Ulrich, who previously had a role in the judicial nominating process. “People who sit on the bench are supposed to be fair and impartial.”

Both Ulrich and Turner say the real focus will be on running Republicans in 2016—reversing the slump seen in the last state legislative election cycle, when the party failed to put up a candidate in state Sen. Tony Avella’s district for the first time in decades.