3 Dems file to enter attorney general race
BY JOHN RILEY
Newsday Staff Writer
Newsday
July 14, 2006

Three Democratic challengers filed petitions to run for state attorney general yesterday, virtually assuring a primary race for Andrew Cuomo, the former federal housing secretary who won the support of party regulars at the Democrats' convention last month.

Former New York City public advocate Mark Green, Rockland County housing advocate Charlie King, and former Clinton White House aide Sean Patrick Maloney all announced that they filed more than the 15,000 signatures required to get on the ballot with the state Board of Elections.

King, who ran with Cuomo as a candidate for lieutenant governor in 2002, said his petitions had 50,000 signatures. Maloney's campaign said it filed 45,000. Green's campaign filed an estimated 40,000. The three will go on the ballot unless someone challenges the signatures, which would then trigger an investigation and hearing by the Board of Elections.

"Now there will be a contest, not a coronation," Green said.

A challenge can be filed by any voter, but Cuomo's campaign says it has "no plans" to back one unless there's evidence of fraud.

Public polls give Cuomo a healthy lead on Green, with Maloney and King registering support from less than 10 percent of Democrats. Cuomo is also expected to hold a big fundraising advantage when midyear reports are filed next week. He also has a lead on Republican nominee Jeanine Pirro, but her campaign is about to report an impressive total of more than $2.5 million raised since January, sources say.

Another favorite - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - also appears poised to face a primary. Antiwar candidate Jonathan Tasini announced he had filed enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. "More than 2,500 American men and women will never come home to their families ever again because of Hillary Clinton's vote for this illegal and immoral war," Tasini said.