KINGSTON – Glenn Noonan is donning his armor in preparation for an epic showdown in the battle for his political life. The minority leader and eight-term legislator from Gardiner is readying his pen and mobilizing a petition drive in an effort to retain his legislative seat, which represents Ulster County's District 8 (Gardiner, New Paltz, and Shawangunk), after his party ousted him in favor of former Town of Gardiner supervisor, John "Jack" Hayes. Noonan claims that the Shawangunk Republican Committee, acting in concert with Ulster County Republican Committee Chair, Mario Catalano, orchestrated the coup d'ιtat on June 1, the evening before the county Republican's annual nominating convention. He said the Shawangunk meeting was called, with Catalano in attendance, in an effort to convince committee members to vote in lockstep against Noonan, and thus outnumber the combined votes of the other towns in District 8 — New Paltz and Gardiner.

Roger Rascoe, who chairs the Shawangunk Republican Committee, said he happily nominated Hayes for the District 8 legislative seat because Noonan "has alienated so many people on so many levels" that he felt it was time for a change. Rascoe described Noonan as a "one-person wrecking ball," whose sole interest is his own political aspirations. By contrast, Rascoe described his nominee, Jack Hayes, as a viable and trustworthy candidate, who not only won the endorsement of the entire Shawangunk Republican Committee, but is also supported by several members of the Republican committees of New Paltz and Gardiner, Noonan's base.

Noonan said he doesn't plan to go down without a fight; he's promising to primary against Hayes and is busy petitioning signatures to that end. He says Hayes, a retired state trooper, owns a house in Florida and is actively pursuing employment in the state. Rascoe predicts that Noonan will be "soundly defeated" in the primary.

That there is animosity between Catalano and Noonan is undisputed; the chair of the county GOP contends that Noonan is a "pathological liar," while the eight-term legislator describes Catalano as an utter and complete failure in his role as party leader.

For his part, Catalano claims that since his election to chair Ulster's Republican Party 18 months ago, he has retooled the "top-down" management style long familiar to Ulster County Republicans. Instead, Catalano said he has empowered each town's committee — in what he describes as a "bottom-up" approach — to recruit new members and viable candidates within each township. He said the Hayes endorsement reflects the redistribution of power in the party and that he's only supporting the decisions of each town's chair.

Noonan said that he angers leadership because he "doesn't do what the party bosses want." But, he said that he was simply doing what he was asked to do by party leaders — that is, to begin recruiting candidates for the upcoming legislative election. All seats in the 33-member legislature are up for election this fall.

Of his recruiting efforts, the minority leader said he tapped Manuela Mihailescu, a Town of Rochester councilmember, to run in District 1 (Marbletown, Rochester, Wawarsing) because he felt that her extensive marketing experience would be an asset to the county in its efforts to improve the area's tourism industry. Mihailescu holds an MBA, with a minor in marketing and advertising.

It was only after recruiting her, according to Noonan, when he discovered that Catalano had already brokered a deal with the Democratic and Independence party leadership to cross-endorse the three incumbent Democrats and Republican nominee, Terry Bernardo for the District 1 legislative seats. Bernardo's husband, Len, chairs the county's Independence Party. Catalano insists that Noonan was aware of the plan to cross-endorse and only contacted Mihailescu to retaliate against the new Republican chair's plans to retake the legislature from the Democrats.

Noonan said he's appalled at what he called the backroom bargaining of the county's political leadership. He wonders why the Republican leaders would opt to negotiate endorsements of opposition candidates, which essentially leaves District 1 voters without a choice in this year's election. "The voters of Ellenville will not be able to exercise their democratic right," he said, because the race has been pre-determined.

Catalano said that as county chair, he would have been foolish not to accept the cross-endorsement offer, which now ensures District 1 a Republican seat in the county legislature. During the June 2 convention, Republicans fielded 24 Republican candidates and one Conservative, while cross-endorsing three Democrats in District 1.

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