ALBANY—About 400 people attended last night’s Conservative Party dinner at the Sheraton in midtown, including Erie County Executive Chris Collins.
It was Collins’ first appearance at the dinner, Chairman Mike Long said, and he was seated at the head dais. Also up front was Rick Lazio, the former congressman who lost the 2000 Senate race to Hillary Clinton. Both men are possible Republican candidates for governor in 2010.
“I invited him because I got wind that he was doing some good work up there. I brought him in because he’s a new face, and we’re trying to energize the people around the state,” Long said of Collins, adding that he met the first-term executive at the party conference in February.
