Frank Padavan Mulling A Comeback

Veteran Republican ex-State Sen. Frank Padavan is interested in running in the northeast Queens district he narrowly lost in 2010, according to three Republicans sources.

But some Queens Republicans are concerned that district lines set to likely be released today will not be favorable enough for a Padavan comeback.

GOP Councilman Dan Halloran has also expressed interest in running against Democratic State Sen. Tony Avella, but recently threw cold water on the idea, leaving Padavan as by far the most viable possible alternative.

Queens Republicans have been pushing for Avella’s district to be pushed into the conservative areas of the Bronx. Instead the district is set to only be altered slightly, according to multiple Republican sources briefed on a meeting Friday between Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, state GOP chairman Ed Cox and Queens GOP chairman Phil Ragusa.

The North Shore Towers in Glen Oaks, which lean heavily Democratic, are set to be cut out of the district, the sources said, but some Democratic leaning high-rises from Democratic  Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky’s district are likely to be added. The sources cautioned that they had not seen the final copies of district maps.

One Queens Republican source said that the Queens leadership was frustrated by their lack of input in the process. Trying to convince GOP Councilman Eric Ulrich to run against Democratic State Sen. Joe Addaboo in eastern Queens has been the Senate GOP’s main focus, the source said.

And Ulrich is part of the faction of the fractured Queens GOP vehemently opposed to Ragusa leading the party.

“They’re absolutely obsessed with Eric,” one Queens GOP source said of the Senate Republicans, “when a former senator [Padavan] has expressed interest in running, and an up-and-coming councilman [Halloran] wants to run, if not this time, then the next time.”

Padavan, who could not be immediately reached for comment, lost to Avella by six points in 2010, despite a reputation for constituent services that helped him hang on for years in a Democratic-leaning district. The decision by the United Federation of Teachers to back Avella after years in Padavan’s corner was seen as a major factor. Padavan was also briefly hospitalized almost a year ago, following the election, after having a stroke.

A Senate Republican spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.