Baldeo is denying that he attempted to extort a judgeship from Queens Dems

Times Ledger article below reports that Albert Baldeo claims he never tried to get a judgeship for dropping out of the primary against Addabbo for the Serph Maltese Senate Seat

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2008/07/01/forest_hills/forest_hills_ledger/news/forest_hills_ledger_newsbaldeooffe06262008.txt

NY Daily News article a couple of weeks earlier reports that Baldeo would have accepted a judgeship in return for dropping out of the race.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/06/10/2008-06-10_albert_baldeo_hints_at_thirdparty_run_fo.html

Como's sliver of a win in a special election

The unusual reaction of the Queens GOP that Como nearly getting beat by a less than adequate candidate whose only attribute to the campaign whose her last name and the familial obligation that the Queens Democratic Chairman felt towards her, was that if Liz Crowley can't win a Special Election as a Democrat in 30th City Council District then there is no way that Addabbo cannot possibly Beat Serf Maltese.

Baldeo without any money, any endorsements, simply with voter enrollment in his favor came several 100 votes away from knocking Maltese off in 2006. It would be hard to argue that Republican Brand in Queens has improved in the last 2 years, and with Obama at the top of the ticket there will be a large Democratic turnout. Addabbo will have as much money as he needs, Malcolm Smith will make sure he as much, if not more, feet on the ground than Crowley recieved for the special election. New York City Democrats are a little embarassed to have 3 republican State Senators that do not represent the Republican bastion of Staten Island (2 of the 3 in are in Queens).

State Senator Serph Maltese nearly gets defeated

GOP State Senator Serph Maltese won re-election by 900 votes against Albert Baldeo, a man who was accused in his failed run for city council of pulling a gun on his opponent's wife. If there was a real candidate or Spitzer had any coat tails this seat would be in the hands of the Democrats bringing the total of seats needed for the Dems to regain control of the Senate to 2. Liz Krueger, who chairs the New York Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and is responsible for candidate recruitment for the State Senate, should most diffidently step down as she has utterly failed. With a tidal wave of democratic votes only one State Senate seat traded hands, Nick Spano lost to Andrea Stewart Cousins after the rematch from 2 years ago by 19 votes, Senator Kruger could have done just as well had she done nothing at all