41st AD Republican Club

Regular Organization 2950 Avenue S Brooklyn, New York 11229 Telephone (718) 375-5670 Fax (718) 339-4170
Gladys Pemberton Anthony Testaverde State Committee Members & District Leaders Jack Benton. President

April 10, 2013 Dear Fellow Leaders: I cannot believe I am having to write this letter at this time. It seems like deja vu from when Arthur Bramwell was Chairman and then State Senator Robert DiCarlo was on a power trip wanting to be Chairman of the Party as well as the State Senator. It caused a great deal of divisiveness within the party and he was not successful. After that, Hy Singer became the Chair and he too was challenged for his leadership, and once again, there was dissention within the party. This challenge also was unsuccessful, and the party became united and thrived under his leadership. When he decided to step down, I was next in line as First Vice Chair to become the Chairman. I declined and threw my support behind Craig Eaton which I did wholeheartedly. It was a good decision then, and I have been proud to have worked side by side with Craig ever since then. He was overwhelming re-elected to his second term, and third term, and I would hope he will be re-elected once again this fall. Being Chairman is a daunting job. There is no salary and many hours are spent away from your business and your family. Craig, like Hy Singer before him, has laid out money from his own pocket on many occasions. He has worked tirelessly for almost 6 years rebuilding our party. He holds regular meetings, maintains a party headquarters, built up our Young Republican organization and has seen the success of our local Republican radio show. This is not easy in a city where we are outnumbered by democrats 7 to 1. He has reached out to all of our leaders in trying to help them grow their clubs by hosting cocktail parties in their areas, assisting them during local elections and being there whenever they needed him. All the Lincoln Dinners and the County Journals were financial successes. Craig was able to attract top notch honorees, and the attendance at the events were huge and our reputation as a strong and vital county organization was recognized statewide. In addition, he reelected Cong Grimm, Sen. Golden and Assemblywoman Nicole

Page 2 Malliotakis, and was instrumental in electing Cong. Turner and Sen. Storobin. Very impressive feats when faced with such disastrous odds. Craig has endorsed John Catsimatidis for Mayor, and this is a very wise choice. John has been an active member of the Brooklyn GOP and has attended many of our events. I firmly believe that we should all stand by and with our Chairman and endorse John. The candidate Sen. Golden is supporting, Joseph Lhota, is a well respected public servant and served us well under Mayor Giuliani. But where has he been? He has lived in Brooklyn as a Republican for many years, and never came to one event, never came to one meeting.and never ever reached out to any of us. Why should we give him our support at this time? In addition, I dont believe that he can win in the general election. On the other hand, John is a true life American hero. An immigrant from Greece who become a very successful and wealthy businessman. A man who will not pander to the special interests or lobbyists, because he doesnt need their support to win. He is friends with very successful Republicans and Democrats around this great Country, and they will all stand with him and support him in this race. To his credit, Sen. Dean Skelos, Governor Pataki and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis have all endorsed John and many others will follow. At this time we need to be loyal to our Chair, but we also need to pick the right candidate and John is that person. And now, Sen. Golden is using this race in an attempt to oust Craig as the Chairman. What a total disgrace. To learn this is being orchestrated by Senator Martin Golden is beyond the pale! I call upon all of our State Committee members to join with me in denouncing what Senator Golden is attempting to do. It is once again a case of another Senator on a power trip. He now wants to control Kings County completely. We cannot stand by and watch our party torn apart once again. If Senator Golden is successful in forcing Craig Eaton out, he will find that many others, myself included, will also step down. State Committee members also do not receive any compensation. There is very little in the way of patronage, and we do our jobs because we want to have a positive impact on our communities, and though we may not win all of our elections, we make sure the democrats do not go unchallenged. Sincerely,

Gladys Pemberton