Independent voters looking for the return of the two party system in Ulster County counted on Mario Catalano to get the job done for us this year.
He failed.
Ok, Hinchey was not a viable target and realistically, the guy does a pretty darn good job as Congressman. Like him or hate him, Maurice Hinchey lets you know where he stands and you’ve got to appreciate that.
Bonacic and Larkin – ok, no problem, both swept without Catalano doing anything (were they even opposed???).
We had four local races where Catalano failed miserably.
Tom Kirwan – lost.
Robin Yess – she was certainly not the favorite, but she got CREAMED. It wasn’t even close. After Catalano convinced the powers that be to give her the Independence line over our home picked candidate of Kevin Cahill, he did nothing to raise money to get her any traction. Yess apparently angered many people and was not a good team player. As a result, she lost the support of the Assembly Republicans in Albany, and the money people she needed here to knock off Cahill – an Assemblyman with a lousy record.
Len Bernardo – he was also not the favorite but he had the money, so the GOP sucked him in and in fairness he was a respectable candidate. Obviously Bernardo was too independent from the powers that be and they never fully embraced him as the GOP nominee. Moreover, some of the party insiders were making side deals with Hein in an all too obvious manner. Bernardo, a complete neophyte bought his way to 43% of the vote by putting in real money and also by putting up a real hustle - all while Catalano did nothing to help and some of the good old boys and girls (Nina, we remember you), supported Hein.
Jim Quigley – Quigley’s loss is the saddest of all. Here is a guy who is much more qualified, much more capable, and someone who would be completely independent of any special interests (Bernardo and Yess would have been too we believe). Catalano held Quigley’s hand, Bernardo delivered the Independence line by pushing Dietrich Werner (the TRUE leader of the Ulster County Independence Party) to give him the line (only to have Bernardo’s handlers dump Werner in an incredible act of treachery which should have taught Bernardo what he was dealing with); and still Quigley could not pull through. All the unions, all the endorsements, all the special interests hustling for Jim Quigley, all the money he burned, and no victory. Appalling.
We hear that the GOP was united going into this thing. A big pow wow in Kingston led to Bernardo, Quigley, and Yess all signing on with the same campaign team, but then Dr. Doom – a/k/a Mario Catalano got involved and blew up the whole “running as a team” thing.
All of a sudden Bernardo was doing his thing, Quigley was doing his thing, and Yess was doing her thing (or should I say no-thing). Catalano, he was up in Greene County drilling teeth while Bernardo and Quigley were turning on each other, and Robin Yess was sitting by her pool.
These three losses are an embarrassment to candidates that collectively spent more than $1/2 million. We hear that the powers that be have lost all faith in Catalano and are now angling to put in someone who will actually go out and campaign, not lecture in a condescending way how to win campaigns.
The disunity wrought by Catalano by a team of people who 2 of them had a pretty good shot speaks volumes to his leadership capacity. A new Ulster County Republican Chairman is needed – now.
