Golden Endorses Capetanakis In one corner of Charles Capetanakis' campaign headquarters in Dyker Heights, there is a small basil plant-a reference to Capetanakis' father and son, both of whom are named after the subtle herb. The reminder was a fitting one for Capetakanis' state senate campaign, which he is framing around education, children and family. And last Tuesday, Councilmember Marty Golden seemed like a long lost brother who found his way home as he endorsed Capetanakis amidst a barrage of hearty embraces, firm back-slaps, and a chant-led by Golden-of "Charlie, Charlie."

In many ways, the endorsement is expected. Capetanakis' opponent in the Republican primary, Robert DiCarlo, ran against Golden in 1997, while Capetanakis endorsed Golden early on in his campaign. Oddly, the Kings County Republican Party has not made an endorsement in the race, despite majority support for Capetanakis among the district leaders. Anthony Andruilli, Capetanakis' campaign manager, said that DiCarlo has blocked the vote by exerting pressure on the county chair, Arthur Bramwell. DiCarlo has said that the party simply wasn't able to coalesce around a candidate. In any case, the district leaders will go their own way in this race.

Capetanakis has the support of the Staten Island Republican Party, and county chair Leticia Remauro ventured into Brooklyn to attend the endorsement announcement. Golden touted Capetanakis' experience as president of the local school board (the district is in the top five citywide) and his solid Republican positions on issues like parole and school vouchers. In what may have been a reference to DiCarlo-who has lost three elections and been the subject of Republican infighting in the past-- he said: "Charlie doesn't come in with any baggage. He's a dedicated family man."

DiCarlo, who will run on the Conservative and Right to Life lines in November regardless of the Republican primary, said that he wasn't surprised by Golden's endorsement. "He's had a long business relationship with Charlie's father for many years," said DiCarlo in a phone interview. "His personal support of Charlie isn't surprising, and I don't expect it to have a lot of impact on the race."

All three men do have one thing in common: a dislike for incumbent State Senator Vincent Gentile, a Democrat. They all took turns lambasting him, each mentioning that he never passed a law during his tenure. But alas, in the final days of this year's legislative session, by a vote of 58-1, the senate passed a piece of legislation authored by Gentile. The bill makes it illegal to distribute flyers advertising sex services within 1,000 feet of a school. "The one vote against was a Democrat. I got a unanimous Republican vote. They should check their facts," said Gentile of his Republican counterparts. "They just repeat the mantra."

Dueling Surrogates The race between Rep. Major Owens and Councilmember Una Clarke promises to be a doozy, with the latest sparks flying between former Mayor Ed Koch and Chris Owens, Major's son and campaign manager. Last week, Koch endorsed Clarke, writing in a direct mail letter that she was someone who would "work hard and effectively."

The Owens campaign was clearly a bit perturbed by the endorsement. Later that day, Chris Owens sent out a press release in which he wrote, "Ed Koch's endorsement of Una Clarke is clearly petty revenge." Owens supported David Dinkins in his successful 1989 bid to unseat Koch as mayor. "Mr. Koch has never supported grassroots, progressive thinking and community action on behalf of poor New Yorkers," said Chris Owens in the release. "Congressman Major Owens has always been unbought and unbossed, something Ed Koch could not handle."

"I enjoyed his press release because it shows that my endorsement is really hurting him, otherwise he wouldn't be whining or saying so much about my comments," said Koch., who added that he found Owens' recent comments comparing Clarke with Hitler "so offensive as to want to near throw up." Koch later put out his own release in which he said that Owens' "office is legendary for its failure to help constituents," and that Owens "continually demeans himself."

Another tiff between the camps recently occurred when Owens backed out of a debate on New York 1 last week. Privately, Clarke supporters said that Owens was waiting to see if he could knock her off the ballot before consenting to debate. Clyde Griffith, Owens' district director, called that idea ridiculous and said that Clarke had cancelled a debate in June. "As far as we are concerned, the congressman has to look and see what his priorities are. Having a debate with her at this time is not a priority," he said.

"Let's put it this way," said Danica Gallagher, a spokesperson for Clarke. "She's gaining momentum in the community. I can't say he's ducking, but she's certainly gaining momentum." Owens got a big boost a few days later, when he was endorsed by Hillary Clinton and lauded by several of his female colleagues in Congress, who praised his work on behalf of women.

Gay-Baiting In Congressional Race? Rep. Anthony Weiner and the Lambda Independent Democrats are upset with Councilmember Noach Dear, who allegedly had an aide surreptitiously record Weiner's presentation at the gay and lesbian political club's endorsement meeting and then play it back at a meeting of Agudath Israel, a conservative Jewish organization. The incident, reported in Lambda's newsletter, was designed to stoke anti-gay sentiment, according to Lambda president Dan Tietz.

"Its not as though it's a big secret that Anthony Weiner thinks that civil rights for all is the right course. The issue is that someone would be so slimy as Noach Dear to try and gay-bait by recording (Weiner's) comments," said Tietz, who added that Dear has a history of similar actions. "Lesbians and gays in Brooklyn live side by side with the Orthodox-no problems. Noach Dear's actions are just another way to pour gas on the fire of hate and distrust. This is an effort to divide," Tietz said.

But Jeff Hoschander, a Dear spokesperson, said that Weiner's remarks at Lambda were relayed to Agudath Israel to show that he was misrepresenting himself to both groups. "Agudath was essentially informed about Weiner's remarks because he was saying one thing one thing to an organization like Agudath and singing a completely different song in front of groups like Lambda," said Hoschander. "It was important for both groups to know that Weiner was being disingenuous with them, and it was also important for the public to know that Weiner has a particularly nefarious form of political double-speak."

"I'm proud of the diversity of my district," said Weiner. "Efforts to play one community off the other will surely be rejected by the voters." Hoschander said that he didn't know whether Weiner's remarks were taped or if the aide had taken written notes.

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