NEW YORK - Republican attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro said Friday she was “not happy” about her husband's latest speeding ticket, which he picked up while driving through a school zone.
But although she said it had no bearing on her qualifications for office, she declined to say whether her scandal-prone husband was proving to be a campaign liability.
“I am upset about it. I think that anyone who speeds in the school zone should be ticketed,” Pirro said. “There was only one person behind the wheel of that car. There is no one else's responsibility but his.”
Albert Pirro was pulled over in White Plains Thursday for driving his Mercedes-Benz 51 mph in a 25 mph zone near two schools.
It was the second speeding ticket he's received in recent months.
In an e-mailed statement Friday, Albert Pirro said, “Yesterday, I was stopped for a traffic infraction, and I will deal with it in the time frame established by the courts and take responsibility for my actions.”
His wife made her comments at a news conference where she picked up the endorsement of the 1,600-member Association of Commuter Rail Employees.
Jeanine Pirro said voters should judge her not on her husband's travails but on her 30-year record as a prosecutor, judge and three-term Westchester County district attorney.
She called the law enforcement record of her Democratic opponent, former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, “minimal at best.”
And while she said her husband's problems shouldn't overshadow the campaign, she added, “You didn't want to be in my house last night.”
Albert Pirro has proven a distraction to his wife since she announced plans to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last fall.
Jeanine Pirro abandoned that race in December after a series of embarrassing missteps and said she would run for attorney general instead.
In 2000, Albert Pirro was convicted of 66 counts of federal tax fraud and went on to serve 17 months in prison.
He's also acknowledged fathering a daughter with another woman while still married to his wife.
In July, Albert Pirro was charged with driving 98 mph in a 55-mph zone in New Rochelle. Two weeks ago, he reached a plea deal that let him keep his driver's license.
For his part, Anthony Bottalico, director of the rail employees union, said Friday that he'd hate to see his own wife judged by the speeding tickets he receives.
“I don't get many, but if I did, God. Poor her,” Bottalico said.
Bottalico said the union is backing Pirro because she had helped to pass a state law protecting train crews from assault. The union represents employees of Metro-North, the commuter rail service that runs through Westchester County.
New York's current attorney general, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, is running for governor and has endorsed Cuomo to succeed him.
“I am upset about it. I think that anyone who speeds in the school zone should be ticketed,” Pirro said. “There was only one person behind the wheel of that car. There is no one else's responsibility but his.”
Albert Pirro was pulled over in White Plains Thursday for driving his Mercedes-Benz 51 mph in a 25 mph zone near two schools.
It was the second speeding ticket he's received in recent months.
In an e-mailed statement Friday, Albert Pirro said, “Yesterday, I was stopped for a traffic infraction, and I will deal with it in the time frame established by the courts and take responsibility for my actions.”
His wife made her comments at a news conference where she picked up the endorsement of the 1,600-member Association of Commuter Rail Employees.
Jeanine Pirro said voters should judge her not on her husband's travails but on her 30-year record as a prosecutor, judge and three-term Westchester County district attorney.
She called the law enforcement record of her Democratic opponent, former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, “minimal at best.”
And while she said her husband's problems shouldn't overshadow the campaign, she added, “You didn't want to be in my house last night.”
Albert Pirro has proven a distraction to his wife since she announced plans to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last fall.
Jeanine Pirro abandoned that race in December after a series of embarrassing missteps and said she would run for attorney general instead.
In 2000, Albert Pirro was convicted of 66 counts of federal tax fraud and went on to serve 17 months in prison.
He's also acknowledged fathering a daughter with another woman while still married to his wife.
In July, Albert Pirro was charged with driving 98 mph in a 55-mph zone in New Rochelle. Two weeks ago, he reached a plea deal that let him keep his driver's license.
For his part, Anthony Bottalico, director of the rail employees union, said Friday that he'd hate to see his own wife judged by the speeding tickets he receives.
“I don't get many, but if I did, God. Poor her,” Bottalico said.
Bottalico said the union is backing Pirro because she had helped to pass a state law protecting train crews from assault. The union represents employees of Metro-North, the commuter rail service that runs through Westchester County.
New York's current attorney general, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, is running for governor and has endorsed Cuomo to succeed him.
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