No! Joe is not running for President and David is not his running mate. In what is seen as an unusual step, Republicans Joe Lhota, who’s running for mayor and David Storobin, running for City Council, seem to be seen much on the campaign trail together.

After a successful outing on Brighton Beach where the two Republicans endorsed each other, Joe Lhota, the former Deputy Mayor under Mayor Giuliani, and David Storobin, the former Senator who is the only Jewish Republican elected to office in the last 15 years in New York City, have been campaign hard in Mr. Storobin’s district.

On different days, they attended a Brighton Street Fair, a Coney Island barbeque organized by the South Brooklyn Conservative Club, a baseball game by the Brooklyn Cyclones, and a senior center in Brooklyn.

Campaign sources are saying that the two candidates and their staff are working closely with each other. They say multiple other events are already on the calendar, and Rudy Giuliani is expected to campaign for both Republicans.

Mr. Lhota was Rudy Giuliani’s closest advisor, and Storobin got his start in politics by volunteering for the Giuliani campaign in 1993. Mayor Giuliani also endorsed Storobin in his winning bid for State Senate.

While the candidates disagree on some social issues, especially on same-gender marriage in which Mr. Storobin introduced a bill to repeal the same-gender marriage bill, the two claim they are on the same page on fiscal responsibility, school choice and criminal justice issues. Both candidates have been endorsed by the Conservative Party.

While Mr. Storobin is guaranteed the Republican line, Mr. Lhota is still in a dead even battle for the Republican nomination with John Catsimatidis. Campaigning with Mr. Storobin in the Russian populated neighborhoods allows Mr. Lhota to garner some critical deciding votes in a district that has a lot of registered Republican voters. It also helps Mr. Storobin on a local level that he’s campaigning with the top of the ticket, according to public opinion polls, on so many occasions.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)