Jewish Candidate For Governor Sees An Opportunity

In his words, he hasn’t bumped his head and awakened with the idea that he’s actually going to be the next governor.

But as the Republican and Conservative Party candidate, Carl Paladino seems to be alienating mainstream voters, and even a few on the conservative right, with his strong anti-gay rhetoric, Warren Redlich sees an opportunity.

His press release today says: "As the Paladino campaign founders, voters in the center and the right are looking for a credible alternative. With [Democrat Andrew] Cuomo and the other third-party candidates to the left, Warren Redlich is the only viable option. Redlich has been getting increased media coverage as the 10/18 debate approaches."

Redlich, the Libertarian Party nominee, will make his case alongside the major candidates and some others you’ve never heard of in Monday’s Newsday/News 12 debate at Hofstra University.

"What I think has happened is that the left of center has gone far out left and Carl Paladino, who is at least pretending to be on the right, is falling apart, the center is looking for another third party candidate," he said in an interview

A lawyer from upstate Guilderland, near Schenectady, Redlich is a fiscal conservative and social liberal who wants to drastically cut state spending, beginning with some overpaid executives, like the head of the New York Public Library, Paul LeClerc, who rakes in $689,000 (more than $13,000 per week.)

"There are 110,000 people [on the state payroll] who make more than $100,000 a year, which is a symptom of runaway reckless spending," he opined.

Redlich, 44, would cap most salaries at $100,000, and is convinced plenty of qualified people would line up to take the jobs if the current holders don’t like it.

And although his law practice is built on fighting traffic tickets, Redlich says he’d pull state troopers from speed traps and put them to better use. "I prefer that the police not become trolls under bridges, instead of having them protect the public," he says.

Redlich supports gay marriage and abortion rights but also gun ownership, though he opposes the death penalty. Raised as a Conservative Jew, he now attends the Reform Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady with his family." He previously ran as a Republican for Congress in 2004 and 2006.

UPDATE: Seeing that one of the best ways to get attention in this race is to get into a heated exchange with the NY Post’s Fred Dicker, Redlich has posted a YouTube video of his own "encounter" with the veteran Albany newsman.