One of Suffolk’s top political consultants, Anthony Manetta, is hooking up with Frank MacKay’s Independence Party. Manetta, a Conservative, filed Wednesday to switch to Independence. Although that doesn’t take effect until a week after Election Day 2008, MacKay (photo above) has named Manetta a county party vice chairman. “It’s not something we would normally do, but it’s a sign of respect for someone with so much talent,” he said.
MacKay plans to deploy Manetta as a paid party fundraiser locally, at the state level, and for his newly created Independence Party of America — a platform from which New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg could run for president if he chose. Manetta proclaimed a chance to “work with a great political mind” in MacKay and join a “political movement that is spreading across the country.”
Manetta, head of Roosevelt Strategies, raised $80,000 for the
for the Independence Party this year, which never before raised more than $25,000 annually — thus allowing MacKay to draw a $70,000-a-year salary. The consultant first hit it big....
when he engineered Conservative Vincent
DeMarco’s 2005 county sheriff election. Last
month Manetta ran Robert DiCarlo’s close but
losing bid for Brookhaven supervisor. Frank
Tassone, Manetta’s top operative, is leaving
the firm to head the transition team for that
town’s new GOP board majority, said party
chairman Jesse Garcia. Sources expect Tassone to
become chief of staff to new majority leader
Timothy Mazzei.
