Common Sense: The stage is set

Bay Ridge Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis became the presumptive Republican- Conservative nominee for mayor with the withdrawal of Paul Massey from the race. Nicole will become the second female Republican to run for Mayor and the first Hispanic woman of either party to run.

More importantly, Nicole is well-versed in the issues and an excellent debater, which comes from her seven years in the state legislature. Mayor de Blasio has alienated a diverse group of citizens from throughout the five boroughs. Until now, they have not had a champion willing to speak up for them or their causes in this election.

Nicole would be the first to tell you that she is the underdog in a city that is six to one Democratic. She will also tell you that she beat an incumbent in a majority Assembly seat in 2010 to be elected in the first place.

She also faced an uphill battle in this cycle against the better-funded Paul Massey who began campaigning a year ago. That did not dissuade her. In fact, she was more than up to the challenge and today she in the presumptive nominee.

Nicole plans to issue detailed policy papers on a variety of issues, all which be available on line at her website “Nicole for New York City.” Last week she issued her first on the homeless crisis.

She accepts every possible invitation that can fit into her schedule. She is holding many press conferences and press availabilities. She is meeting voters at campaign events and stops each day. In addition, she is looking forward to debating de Blasio.

What makes Governor Cuomo so sure that voter fraud does not take place in New York State? If anything, I would take the governor’s refusal to cooperate with the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election integrity as an admission that such fraud exists. Why else would he refuse to share voter data that according to the request must be “publicly available under state law?”

The fact that Governor Cuomo may not like or approve of who is sitting in the White House is not a good enough reason to deny the request. Personally, I believe there are attempts at fraud each year in the voting process. Most are caught, but on occasion, especially in primaries, it happens undetected.

Although I doubt the outcome of any general election in New York State has been affected, the commission will offer further recommendations to eliminate fraud that might be helpful even in New York.

The Fourth of July should be about a lot more then picnic, the beach and fireworks. It should be about taking a few minutes from your day to remember what our nation stands for – the principles that it was founded upon and the reason why on the Fourth in 1776 a group of men gathered in Philadelphia to hear a document read declaring the United States a free association of 13 former colonies.