Queens, Brooklyn GOP Come Together At Campaign Kick-Start

from GOP candidate Bob Turner in Station Square felt a little like an Easter Sunday church service. Children held hands with there parents, toddlers ran around dressed up for a special occasion.

Turner supporters turned out in their finery — some women even in tennis whites, fresh from a match at the nearby — to support the Richmond Hill businessman.

It wasn’t just the constituents who showed up — bringing leftover signs from Turner’s 2010 Congressional run — who made news, however.

The kickoff was also an opportunity for the Brooklyn and Queens Republican parties to try and show off a united front in a district where even Turner admits they’re outnumbered 3-to-1.

Juan Reyes, a Forest Hills resident and lawyer who was among the more serious candidates interviewed by the Queens County Republican Party, came out to pledge his support for Turner, even introducing him and reaching out to Hispanic voters with a brief opening statement in Spanish.

Reyes also made sure to have his picture taken, smiling with his arm around Turner’s shoulder.

Queens Republican Party Chairman Phil Ragusa was present, as was City Councilman Eric Ulrich, whose name was also floated as a possible candidate for the seat.

After all the speculation, Ninth District Republican voters have Turner as their choice, and just as in 2010, he’s posturing himself as a red-meat conservative, praising Reagan, demanding tax breaks and a general cutting back of government.

When questioned by the press, Turner had some surprising things to say at the end of Monday’s event.

When asked, for instance, if he felt ready for another campaign so soon after last year’s defeat, he said “No, I’m not,” then looked back at a group of supporters and added, “but I think everybody else seems to be. We have a lot of work to do.”

He also said he plans to run his campaign on the cheap, which likely means shoppers on Queens Boulevard and Austin Street aren’t likely to see his face above them on a billboard again.