Reisman: Bare 'Nuckel' fight looms in Yonkers

After several high-profile Republicans passed on an opportunity to run against incumbent Democrat Mike Spano in the 2015 Yonkers mayoral election, a candidate has finally been found.

He has a fitting name for the gritty, two-fisted arena of Yonkers politics — Bill Nuckel.

Back in the early 1980s, Nuckel served a single two-year term on the City Council, so he is virtually unknown to a new generation of voters. He insists he is not a "place-card candidate," and is planning on running a spirited campaign.

Nevertheless, he is a long shot and knows it.

The current occupant of the mayor's office outguns him in money, name recognition, organization and party enrollment. He is up against a steamroller, i.e. the Spano political family, that is carefully overseen by Mike's jovial big brother, Nick, a former state senator and successful lobbyist who continues to hold sway despite a short stretch in jail for a federal tax dodge.

But Nuckel might have one advantage, and that is Rob Astorino, the Republican county executive.

Astorino despises the Spanos, Nick especially.

Simmering just below the surface, the political feud promises to grow in intensity. As mayor, Mike Spano is term limited. He's not saying anything on the subject and has confined his activity within the borders of Yonkers, but I have it on good authority that, once Spano gets past this election, he is expected to set his sights on the 2017 county executive's race.

I am told that Astorino was determined to find somebody in the Republican Party to run for mayor to either defeat Spano outright, or at least do enough damage to weaken his bid for county executive.

Several heavy hitters supposedly turned him down, among them: John Cahill, who once served as Gov. George Pataki's chief of staff; John Spencer, a former Yonkers mayor; City Council President Liam McLaughlin; and Joe Dillon, who ran for the state senate last year.

Astorino rejected suggestions that Spano run unopposed with a cross endorsement from the Republican Party. So he pressed Yonkers GOP Committee Chairman Justin Tubiolo to come up with a name.

It happens that Tubiolo's wife, Barbara, works in the Astorino administration and his son, David, has a job as a Republican legislative aide.

"That was the pressure point," an insider told me.

Stepping into the void was Nuckel, a lifelong Yonkers resident and a former Democrat who said he switched to the GOP because the Democrats had become self serving. In this way, he has something in common with Spano, who used to be a Republican and then pulled the old switcheroo to become a Democrat.

A counter theory floating around has it that the Spanos, playing too cute by half, actually put Nuckel up to running as a straw man who could be knocked off with ease.

Nuckel denies such intrigue. In any case, he certainly does not sound like a stooge.

He told me he is running as a tax-cutting fiscal hawk bent on exposing Spano-style cronyism and "smoke and mirrors" budget managing. He said the city's income-tax surcharge, sales tax and real estate transfer tax were "nuisance taxes that are going to kill us."

"I feel that Michael Spano is only setting himself to run for county executive in 2017," Nuckel said. "So I want to bring out the truth that, if he decides to run, everybody in the county has an opportunity to look at the record."

A retired Verizon manager, Nuckel teaches economics as an adjunct professor at Westchester Community College, Rockland Community College and Nyack College. He said his 30 years of experience in the private sector qualifies him to be mayor.

"I had to prepare a budget. I worked in human resources. I worked in labor relations, so I have customer service experience so to speak," he said. "I think I have everything that's needed to run. Yonkers is a corporation."

Nuckel said City Hall is loaded with people who do little work in jobs they owe to Spano patronage. He would eliminate those positions. He also said he would call for reducing the school transportation budget, though he was vague on the details. He said he would leave it to educational professionals.

Admitting his underdog status, Nuckel said he would need to spend about $150,000 to be a credible candidate.

"But," he said, "let's remember that it's not the money that wins the election, it's the voters coming out to vote for you."

He said will mount an aggressive campaign to become known. He's in it to win it, he said.

"I'm not in this to call names," he said. "I'm in this to point out to the administration what's wrong and to put my voice before the voters and let them hear an honest, truthful campaign."

Emai: preisman@lohud.com Twitter: @philreisman