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Press and Sun Bulletin - Tuesday, August 7, 2001 He's not crazy, he's running for governor Cheevers says he's out to win JOHN E. "JACK" CHEEVERS CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR BY WILLIAM MOYER Press & Sun-Bulletin TOWN OF UNION -- If a political pollster queried voters about John E. "Jack" Cheevers' decision to run for governor, the question might be: Is he crazy, or do you support his candidacy? The five-term Town of Union supervisor said he's heard both reactions since his July 14 announcement that he wants the Democratic nomination to run against Gov. George E. Pataki in the November 2002 election. "I've had a few people say I'm crazy," said Cheevers, 65, who is president of Cheevers, Hand & Angeline, an Endicott investment firm. "Later on, they'll say, 'I do admire you for speaking out.' " John Greene, a Republican who serves with Cheevers on the town council, has heard the mixed reactions. "Everybody probably says, 'What the heck is he doing?' Then they add, 'If you have something to say, say it,' " said Greene, who owns The Star's Beanery on Washington Avenue across from Cheevers' office. "He's got a tough row to hoe," Greene added. "I thought a little bit of both," said Margaret Coffey, chairwoman of the Broome County Democratic Committee. "Then I thought about it for a while. "Then I thought about it for a while. He has things to say; good for him." "I may fall flat on my face," Cheevers said during a recent interview. About the suggestion that Cheevers might harbor delusions of grandeur, he shrugged his shoulders, as if to say he's not bothered by political skepticism. Then he quickly added, "I'm out to win this thing. When I get to be 75 years old, I'm not going to sit back and say maybe I could have or what would have happened." About his campaign strategy, Cheevers said he'll run an "issues campaign" that won't "waltz around anything." He plans to issue a series of "position papers" during the campaign, including details of a "radical" plan to change the budget process. The state Legislature has failed to pass a budget by the April 1 deadline for 17 years. But the affable town supervisor, described by political acquaintances as articulate and intelligent, faces a long and winding road before forwarding his mail to the governor's Albany mansion. The first challenge is getting his name on the Democratic primary ballot. That will take affirmative votes from roughly 25 percent of the approximate 339 delegates to next year's Democratic State Convention. "The task now is to get himself known to committee members and county chairmen," said Chung Seto, executive director and communications director of the New York State Democratic Committee. "His first task is name recognition." Seto said the state committee has not set a date or picked a location for next year's convention. By law, it must be held between May 14 and July 4, 2002. If he gets on the Democratic ballot, Cheevers would set a landmark for Broome County politicians. Broome County Historian Gerald R. Smith said as far he knows, no one from Broome has been on a major party ballot in the governor's race. Smith said two Civil War generals lived in the county when they were elected lieutenant governor. Republican John Cleveland Robinson served from 1873 to 1875, and Democrat Edwards F. Jones served from 1886 to 1892. If Cheevers doesn't get on the ballot at the state convention, he'll need to get 15,000 registered Democrats to sign his nominating petition. The petition will need to be filed with the state Board of Election by July 11, 2002. Getting his name on the ballot will be a skirmish compared to the primary war against the two high-profile Democratic candidates: state Comptroller H. Carl McCall and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo. In the statewide scheme of things, Cheevers is an obscure candidate from an obscure town, said Chris Anderson, a political science professor at Binghamton University. "His biggest obstacle will be getting someone to notice him," he said. And it'll be a battle. "The way political operatives gauge a candidate is prior experience," Anderson said. "That usually means prior state office or mayor of a big city, not a town supervisor." Anderson said Cheevers will need to find ways to get media attention on the cheap. "You've got to create a story that's new and different. It takes a charismatic person who usually goes around with one issue," he said. That issue might be Cheevers' stand on casino gambling. He wants it legalized. "The present system is insane," he said. "I don't care how you cut it. We get all the ills and none of the benefits." Cheevers said Pataki and the Democratic candidates are afraid to tackle the issue because American Indians would cry foul. "The fastest-growing enterprise in New York state is probably Turning Stone," he said. Turning Stone Casino Resort in Verona is operated by the Oneida Nation. Gambling is legal, and the resort is exempt from sales taxes. Cheevers wants the state to allow voters to decide whether gambling would be accepted in communities to raise tax revenues and expand tourism. "That doesn't mean it would be everywhere. That would be a local option," he said. "It is not perfect by any means, but the people deserve to be able to make a choice," he said. In early 1997, Cheevers had an idea to build a half-billion dollar casino at the Heritage Country Club on Watson Boulevard. That idea went nowhere because the state Senate voted down a bill to put a statewide referendum on casino gambling on the ballot. Next, Cheevers faces the question of money to fuel a campaign. McCall has raised $5 million, while Cuomo has raised $4.6 million. Pataki's campaign has reported raising $12 million. "If that's going to make or break this election, so be it," said Cheevers. "I can't match that kind of money." Cheevers said his campaign treasury has $10,000, which he doled out as a personal loan. "Everything you hear is money over message. If we get the message across, then things could be a little different," he said. Cheevers said Pataki's ongoing series of what he called "feel good" TV advertisements promoting New York state is nothing more than a government-financed campaign for the incumbent. "It's wrong, and that's what you get mad about," he said. Whatever his stand on the issues, Anderson doesn't give Cheevers the proverbial snowball's chance of winning the race unless he can raise a significant amount of money. But even a deep pocketbook doesn't guarantee a victory, he said, pointing to the well-financed but unsuccessful campaigns of Tom Galisano for New York governor and Steve Forbes for president. Coffey said it's doubtful the county Democratic committee would put its formal endorsement on Cheevers, or any candidate, before the September 2002 primary election. But she said Cheevers would certainly be a "favorite son" of the local delegation at the state convention. "He might not win," Coffey said, "but he might bring up issues." A POLITICAL LIFE John E. Cheevers, a Democrat, ran for state senator in November 1972 against Sen. Warren M. Anderson, R-Binghamton. Cheevers lost to the long-time legislator by 9,000 votes out of almost 97,000 votes cast. The tally was one of Anderson's tightest margins of victory. Two months later, Anderson was elected Senate majority leader. Cheevers began the first of his five two-year terms as Town of Union supervisor with a 1976 victory over Republican Richard H. Miller by 489 votes out of approximately 25,000 votes cast. Cheevers did not run for re-election, but came back in 1984 to beat Republican William Forster by a 294-vote margin, again out of approximately 25,000 votes cast. Again, Cheevers did not run for re-election. Cheevers got back into town politics in 1996 when he challenged five-term incumbent Democrat John R. Bertoni. After a bitter primary which Cheevers won by 17 votes out of 2,100 ballots, he ran unopposed in the general election. Bertoni staged a last-minute write-in campaign, but Cheevers won by almost 11,000 votes. In his re-election campaigns since 1996, Cheevers turned back Republican challengers Michael J. Hall in 1998 by over 3,000 votes out of 18,000 cast and beat Gary J. Leskow by almost 3,000 votes out of 21,000 cast in 2000. Cheevers scored his victories in a town where Republicans hold the political edge. The town's current voter registration breakdown is 19,615 Republicans and 16,418 Democrats. During all his terms in office, Cheevers has worked on a council with a Republican majority. Cheevers also served as chairman of the Broome County Democratic Committee from Jan. 14 to Sept. 29, 1984. He resigned to devote time to his campaign for town supervisor. Cheevers said he would not resign from his supervisor's job to run for governor. |
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