A reader pointed us to the following article in The Suffolk County Liberty Report— online news site that says it is “Long Island’s #1 source for Conservative, Republican, and Tea Party News”–in which the local Conservative Party appears to throw its weight behind Randy Altschuler in his bid to take on incumbent Democrat Tim Bishop in 2012.
“Considering the primaries Randy Altschuler faced in the run up to his challenge with [Bishop], I think he earned our endorsement and ended up running a strong race,” Suffolk County Conservative Party Chairman Ed Walsh said. “Altschuler was clearly the most qualified and conservative candidate in the primary and the voters verified that by a large margin last September. My hope is that Randy does decide to run against Tim Bishop again. The Conservative Party would be proud to stand next to Randy and have him carry our banner.”
The Conservative Party’s backing doesn’t come as all that much of a surprise, since Altschuler received the party’s endorsement in the 2010 race and is so far the only candidate who has publicly shown an interest in taking on Bishop. However, the party’s early nod could help clear the field. In 2010, Altschuler won a divisive, three-way primary, only to emerge weakened in his race against Bishop. Republican chairman John Jay LaValle has already signalled that he would like to avoid a divisive primary this time around.
