John Faso

John Faso (born 1952) was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2006, and was defeated by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer in the largest defeat for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state's history. This followed his defeat four years earlier in his run for State Comptroller. He was a former member and minority leader of the New York State Assembly from 1998 until April 2002. He currently serves as a partner in the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips law firm and lives in Kinderhook with his wife Mary and two children. He is a Roman Catholic.

Early life

Faso attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, NY, graduating in 1970. He then graduated from State University of New York at Brockport and earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1979. [Herszenhorn, David M. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/nyregion/02schools.html "In the Race for Governor, a Big Divide on School Aid"] , "The New York Times", November 2, 2006. Accessed December 6, 2007. "Mr. Faso, whose father worked as a janitor in the Catholic grammar school that he attended on Long Island, went on to Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens and the State University of New York at Brockport."]

Political life

He was first elected to the State Assembly from Kinderhook, New York.

Faso was the frontrunner for the 1994 Republican nomination for New York State Comptroller and might have been nominated for Comptroller at that year's Republican State Convention ( [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_London] ), but was asked to withdraw from the comptroller's race that year to let Herbert London to run for comptroller instead.

In late 1994, Faso served as a member of Pataki's transition team, where he chaired the budget committee. Faso drafted the first draft of Pataki's 1995 state budget proposal.Fact|date=February 2007 In 1995, Faso became the Ranking Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. Members of Faso's staff included future Assemblyman Pete Lopez.

Faso ran for state comptroller in 2002, losing to Alan Hevesi by a 50%-46% margin. Fact|date=February 2007 He gave up his role as minority leader during the campaign and did not seek reelection to his Assembly seat in order to seek the comptroller's office Fact|date=February 2007.

After leaving the Assembly, Faso became a partner in a law firm and was appointed by Pataki to the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority. In this role, Faso works with other authority commissioners to stabilize Buffalo finances and oversee the management of the city's budget.

Awards:
*1996 "Guardian of Small Business" -National Federation of Independent Businesses
*1997 "Distinguished Public Service" -Nelson A. Rockefeller College

2006 Gubernatorial Race

John Faso was the Republican nominee for governor of New York in 2006. He was defeated by Democrat Eliot Spitzer.

The race for the Republican nomination:In 2005, Faso announced his intention to run for governor. He positioned himself early as a conservative upstate candidate, while stressing his childhood roots in Long Island. He originally faced former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, former Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning. Daniels and Manning both dropped out and Faso became the main opposition to Weld.

It has been reported that in early 2006, Weld offered Faso the chance to join his ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor, an offer Faso reportedly declined Fact|date=February 2007. Faso gained increasing support from party leaders in various counties, including Westchester and Suffolk, both of which had large delegate counts to the state convention.

In late May 2006, Faso received the nomination of the Conservative Party for governor, which guaranteed him a spot on the November ballot. He pledged to continue running for governor on the Conservative line if he lost the Republican primary to Weld.Fact|date=February 2007 On the day he received the Conservative nomination, Faso announced his selection of Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef as his running mate for lieutenant governor.

On June 1, 2006, the Republican State Convention voted 61% to 39% to endorse Faso. By achieving over 50 percent of the vote, Faso was the designated Republican Party candidate in the September primary against Weld, but Weld still had enough to force a primary. As the "Washington Post" put it, " [n] ow it turns out whoever loses the GOP primary will stay in the race -- in a position likely to siphon votes from the Republican nominee." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/28/AR2006052800964.html] For this reason, Weld was under tremendous pressure to drop out of the race. On June 5, Stephen J. Minarik, the chairman of the state Republican Party, who had been Weld's most prominent backer, called on Weld to withdraw in the interest of party unity ( [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/nyregion/05cnd-gov.html?hp&ex=1149566400&en=0743a7fd44898ee5&ei=5094&partner=homepage] ).

Weld formally announced his withdrawal from the race, and his support of Faso, the following day. ( [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060600786.html] ).

Faso faced questions during the campaign regarding his conservatism, his pro-life position and his lobbying activities.Citation | publication-date = 2006-06-08 | title = Faso steadfast on opposition to abortions | periodical = Newsday | url = http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-stfaso084773348jun08,0,5794841.story | accessdate = 2008-07-09Citation | publication-date = 2006-11-30 | title = Candidate for N.Y. Governor Didn’t Break Lobbying Law, Panel Says | periodical = The New York Times | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/nyregion/30faso.html?_r=1&oref=slogin | accessdate = 2008-07-09 The Faso-led ticket lost all statewide offices to the Democrats for the first time in 60 years, and lost three Congressional seats. This included losses to Governor Eliot L. Spitzer and State Comptroller Alan Hevesi; both of whom would later resign their offices in disgrace.Citation | publication-date = 2006-11-08 | title = Clinton, Spitzer, Cuomo lead Democratic sweep | periodical = USA Today | url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2006/NY/NY.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-09

Campaign Issues

John Faso has made fighting increases in school property taxes a central theme of his campaign. In April, he announced a plan to stop the growth in school taxesFact|date=February 2007and charged that Democrat Eliot Spitzer's plan for this issue would lead to a tax increase.

Faso was the original sponsor of charter school legislation and was a leading figure in the passage of Governor Pataki's proposal to create charter schools in New York State in 1998. He supports expanding the current cap on charter schools.

References