Eva and I want to thank all of you for your inspiring and enthusiastic support throughout this campaign. I have been so moved by your enormous dedication and hard work, not to mention the hundreds of thoughtful emails I have received since the outcome of the race became clear. I want to leave you with several important thoughts:
We ended our campaign with the same dignity with which we tried to conduct ourselves throughout the race. As soon as it became clear that the absentee ballots would not be enough to put me over the top, I reached out to Comptroller DiNapoli to congratulate him and conceded the race. While it was highly disappointing to not have earned the opportunity to put our state back on track as the new Comptroller, I wanted to end our efforts in the right way.
While we came up short, I think we accomplished a lot, collectively, to further our twin goals of addressing New York State's massive fiscal problems and to advance this dialogue in a nonpartisan way. We received national attention and universal accolades throughout New York, and I believe we created a new level of awareness of our problems - an awareness that I hope will drive serious solutions. We should all be proud of our contributions to this effort.
Our work is just beginning. While I will spend a great deal of time in the coming weeks with Eva and the girls, I will also be considering how to best advance the agenda we laid out in the campaign. This is not an end, but a new beginning. I look forward to having your support as we build on the great work we did over the last nine months
Posted by Team Wilson on 11/04 at 02:22 PM in
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There are just a few hours left until we make history and change New York’s future. Momentum is on our side and the response we have been receiving at the polls has been simply amazing.
If you have not voted please get to the polls and vote before it’s too late. If you have voted, please call, email, or Facebook 10 friends and make sure they vote too.
The old fiscally irresponsible ways of Albany end today, with your vote.
Today is the day we have all been working so hard towards. Today is our opportunity to take back New York from the Albany insiders and restore fiscal responsibility.
When you go vote today please take a friend or family member because in a race this close each vote is crucial. After you cast your ballot consider calling, emailing, or even sending Facebook messages to 10 of your friends to make sure they get to the polls.
Let's not hold anything back today to ensure victory tonight!
Posted by Team Wilson on 11/02 at 06:41 AM in
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In this year’s race for state comptroller, New Yorkers are fortunate to have one of the strongest candidates for this specific job the state has seen in decades.
Harry Wilson, the Republican candidate, brings a distinguished career of working for top Wall Street investment firms with a focus on restructuring struggling companies. He took his talents to Washington to work on a bipartisan automotive industry task force, and was the person who successfully guided General Motors through a bankruptcy restructuring.
With Wilson we see a man striking positive qualities. First and foremost, he has the skill and intelligence to oversee the state’s troubled finances, and the experience to run the state’s pension fund.
It’s also worth noting that it’s likely the winner of this race will be working opposite a Democratic governor, which would provide a nice check on that office if a Republican was the comptroller.
Democrat Thomas DiNapoli was given this job four years ago when Alan Hevesi resigned in disgrace. DiNapoli, who had served as an Assemblyman held his own during his tenure, but the truth is he was not the qualified person to take over the job then and he is not today, either.
The Citizen endorses Harry Wilson for state comptroller.
Posted by Team Wilson on 11/01 at 10:30 AM in
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A new Siena research poll shows Harry Wilson has closed the gap on his opponent and positioned himself for a win on Tuesday.
The extraordinary editorial support Harry has received from newspapers across New York State has given him a tremendous boost with New York voters. The closer they compare Harry's significant business credentials against Mr. DiNapoli's record as a career Albany politician, the more they support Harry in this race.
Tom DiNapoli took over a deeply troubled state comptroller's office in 2007 and took steps to restore its integrity. Which makes it all the more difficult to say, it's time for a change.
While we recognize and thank Mr. DiNapoli for his service, Harry Wilson is the kind of comptroller New York needs right now. A hedge fund manager who specialized in restructuring troubled companies and served on President Obama's auto industry task force, he has the financial chops that Mr. DiNapoli lacks. It surely can't hurt to have someone who knows finance as the sole trustee of the $124.8 billion Common Retirement Fund, one of the largest pension systems in the world.
Mr. Wilson, this campaign has shown, has a sense of urgency on some of the gravest fiscal problems facing New York. Those include the question of whether the state pension system is adequately funded, and how state and local governments will deal with the largely unfunded, long-term cost of what is estimated to be a more than $200 billion tab for retiree health insurance.
While Mr. DiNapoli, to be sure, has been as outspoken on issues like the state's financial problems as any comptroller in memory, Mr. Wilson is a real outsider in a town where just about everyone, it seems, would like to pretend to be one right now.
He isn't beholden to the Legislature that Mr. DiNapoli came from and was appointed by.
He owes nothing to the state unions that have supported Mr. DiNapoli's campaign, and whose interests, it has seemed, have eclipsed those of ordinary taxpayers in state government.
As a Republican, he offers a balance to the Democrats who have ruled state government exclusively for the past two years and are likely to continue to dominate it after Tuesday's election. This post, remember, involves more than managing the state's money; it also serves as an independent watchdog that can audit agencies and public authorities. New York could use a comptroller who isn't, ultimately, another member of the ruling clan.
We are encouraged, too, by Mr. Wilson's plans to further clean up the comptroller's office. While Mr. DiNapoli made a strong start in ending the pay-to-play culture there by banning work by financial firms for two years after they make political contributions to a comptroller or candidate for the office, Mr. Wilson proposes similar restrictions on outside law firms that can reap millions representing the state. He would also ban the acceptance of contributions from state employee unions.
For all Mr. Wilson's business background, he recognizes that governing isn't the same as running a business, nor is New York government, for its problems, just another troubled corporation. He seems to appreciate that the comptroller's obligation isn't solely to the bottom line; it's to the current and retired public employees in the pension system, and 19 million New Yorkers who want a fiscally sound state that delivers the services people and society need. It's also, we add, to wield the power of this office with an even hand, not a political whip.
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/31 at 01:52 PM in
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George E. Pataki, former three-term Governor of New York, today endorsed state comptroller candidate Harry Wilson and his campaign to save New York State from fiscal crisis.
"Harry is not only extremely qualified to lead New York back from the brink of fiscal ruin, his campaign has been fueled by innovative and thoughtful solutions to the cycle of waste and mismanagement that's plaguing our state," said Governor Pataki. "New Yorkers are notably energized this year to cast their votes for candidates like Harry Wilson, who demonstrate integrity and independence from political corruption. If this state is again going to be a place where we can live well, work and raise a family-we need Harry Wilson in the comptroller's office to get us there."
"Governor George Pataki knows all too well the challenges of opposing special interests in Albany to enact successful reform," said Mr. Wilson. "I'm honored to have the endorsement of a governor who, despite these challenges, was nationally recognized for his accomplishments in cutting taxes and wasteful state spending."
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/31 at 01:28 PM in
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Harry Wilson thanks volunteers Saturday at the Monroe County Republican Committee "Get out the Vote" rally at the Dome Center in Henrietta. Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks and State Attorney General candidate Dan Donovan were also at the rally to energize the crowd of volunteers and thank them for their hard work.
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/30 at 03:23 PM in
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Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano (R) endorsed nationally recognized restructuring expert and candidate for state comptroller Harry J. Wilson.
"New York needs a fiscal expert in the Office of the State Comptroller," said County Executive Ed Mangano. "Harry Wilson has a plan to stop the pension-related property tax time bomb that threatens taxpayers in counties all over the state. We need Harry's business expertise and independence in Albany, and I strongly urge Nassau County voters to support him for the good of this state."
Mangano, a former small business owner was elected on a reform message to cut taxes and reduce spending in Nassau County. Immediately, Mangano began to change how the county did business. He cut the home energy tax, reformed property assessments and worked to keep and attract businesses, including next generation green jobs in Nassau.
Harry Wilson, in accepting the endorsement stated, "Ed Mangano started a quiet revolution last year when he was elected on a platform to cut taxes and fundamentally change Nassau County government's 'tax and spend' culture. Like me, he comes from the business world and knows how to apply real world solutions to very real problems. I'm honored by his endorsement and I look forward to partnering with the county executive and other local leaders across New York to get the state back on track."
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/30 at 02:58 PM in
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The job of the state comptroller is anything but glamorous. The 2,500 worker bees in the office review state contracts and audit state and local governments, from sprawling state agencies down to local fire districts. The comptroller’s biggest responsibility is to oversee the $125 billion state pension fund as its sole trustee.
Harry Wilson, the Republican challenger to Democrat Thomas P. DiNapoli, thinks the office can be a “force for reform.”
Wilson, 39, a former Wall Street financier who grew up in Johnstown, would use the office’s powers to audit every dollar of state spending. He’d apply his Harvard Business School education to government operations, wringing out excessive costs, duplication and inefficiency, benchmarking its performance and analyzing the costs and benefits of its activities.
DiNapoli, 56, came into the office under difficult circumstances. His predecessor, Alan Hevesi, had resigned in disgrace. In early 2007, the 20-year Assemblyman from Nassau County was appointed by the Legislature to fill the seat. A little more than a year later, the financial system nearly collapsed, blowing a $40 billion hole in the assets of the pension fund.
During his three-plus years on the job, DiNapoli strengthened oversight of the pension fund, uncovered $3 billion in fraud or wasteful spending and banned the use of placement agents paid to provide investment firms with access to the fund. He has done a creditable job restoring order to the agency after the Hevesi years.
But we think Wilson is the better candidate. He played a pivotal role in the government-led restructuring of General Motors Corp., and is described by car czar Steven Rattner as “fiercely driven,” diligent and hard-nosed. He would bring in an unpaid committee to advise on pension fund investments, reduce the volatility of its holdings and make forecasts of investment returns more realistic.
DiNapoli criticizes Wilson’s work with Goldman Sachs and private equity firms, lumping him in with “the Wall Street crowd” that created the financial meltdown. He also faults the multimillionaire for bankrolling his own campaign, to the tune of $3.85 million as of 11 days before the election.
Wilson says he’d rather spend his own money than be beholden to the law firms that have donated heavily to DiNapoli’s campaign. He says he was bitten by the public service bug while working on the GM turnaround and is willing to give up a lucrative career. Let’s see what he can do.
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/29 at 12:39 PM in
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Today, Harry Wilson was endorsed by former Democratic NYC Comptroller Harrison "Jay" Goldin. Comptroller Goldin believes Wilson will be an energetic Comptroller who has the right ideas to help bring New York out of its financial crisis.
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/29 at 09:23 AM in
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Participants Include State Senate Candidate Lee Zeldin, Suffolk County Legislator Tom Cilmi And Local Business Owners
New York, Oct. 25, 2010 - New York State Comptroller Candidate Harry J. Wilson (R-C-I) tonight held a forum for small businesses in Suffolk County. The forum focused on howthe MTA Payroll Tax and other harmful state legislation have been counterproductive to a successful economic recovery in this region, and on Mr. Wilson's plan to conduct of comprehensive forensic audit of the MTA as comptroller.
Incumbents in the Legislature and in the Comptroller's office have either supported this local-job-killing tax or have made skin-deep attempts to 'audit' MTA expenditures, Mr. Wilson said. The MTA Tax imposes a percentage tax on the wages and salaries paid by private employers throughout New York City and seven surrounding downstate counties, including hospitals, libraries and nonprofit employers.
"Anyone with experience in finance, or common-sense, would oppose a tax on payrolls at a time when we need to encourage locally based business to hire more New Yorkers and add to their payrolls," said Taxpayers for Wilson Campaign Manager Chapin Fay.
Continued Fay: "Comptroller DiNapoli, who has already been exposed as having absolutely no experience or knowledge of finance[1], waited nearly a year before making a toothless attempt to audit the MTA's expenses and has never acknowledged the need to repeal the tax. Beyond his ineptitude as a fiscal watch-dog, this demonstrates a lack of common-sense, and a troubling picture of a politician who is completely beholden to unions and Albany's legislative insiders."
Harry Wilson's plan as Comptroller is to conduct an intensive, line-by-line forensic audit of the entire MTA, drawing on his extensive experience in restructuring financially distressed entities. Mr. Wilson, a nationally-recognized restructuring expert, crossed party lines in 2009 to lead the restructuring of General Motors for the President's Auto Task Force.
Wilson has also beenvocal about the importance of political independence in order to best protect the fiscal interests of New York State taxpayers. In doing so he has not made any political endorsements in this race, and has won the endorsement of many major New York State media outlets, including, but not limited to The New York Times; The New York Daily News; The New York Post; Crain's New York Business; the Journal News; the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and the Rochester City Newspaper.
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/27 at 04:37 AM in
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If you are a Democrat and would like to join the growing numbers of New Yorkers who support Harry Wilson you can join the newly created Democrats for Wilson Coalition by clicking here. The coalition is made up of Democrats who firmly believe in Harry and his promise to bring more accountability and transparency to the State Comptrollers office.
Members of Democrats for Wilson will stay connected with the latest developments and can get more involved.
You may also view a list of Democrats who make up the current coalition by clicking here.
Posted by Team Wilson on 10/26 at 12:50 PM in
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