DiNapoli Wants Public Money for Comptroller Candidates

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli wants public financing for all comptroller candidates, he said this morning.

He has not opened a campaign account, nor begun fund-raising, and has returned all checks he has received in support of his re-election. The filing in January will show his account has no money.

At a business breakfast at the Grand Hyatt, he also fielded a question that referred to a Joe Bruno quote in a recent New Yorker article when Greg David, editor of Crain's asked, "Is Shelly Silver really the biggest wimp in town?"

"Speaker Silver is anything but that word," DiNapoli said from the podium. "He's a very, very strong individual."

DiNapoli, who was an assemblyman for 20 years, also said that the financial shortfalls the state faces next year will help bring people in Albany together.