Catsimatidis likes his outsider status
Billionaire says, ‘I don’t owe anybody anything’
John Catsimatidis said he’s not at all concerned over the fact that The New York Times, Daily News, and Post have all snubbed him by endorsing his opponent, Joe Lhota, for the Republican mayoral primary on Sept. 10.
“The Times endorsed Mark Green over Mayor Bloomberg,” he said, referring to the mayor’s race in 2001, when the public advocate was widely believed to have a big advantage over first-time candidate Bloomberg until Bloomberg won the race.
Catsimatidis is hoping the experts have it wrong again this year.
In addition to the three major daily endorsements, Lhota, a former deputy mayor in the Giuliani Administration and former Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman, also enjoys a comfortable lead over Catsimatidis in most polls. In a poll conducted by AM New York and News 12, half of Republican voters questioned favored Lhota while 28 percent said they would vote for Catsimatidis.