By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – He's one of six Democrats running for State Attorney General. But Charlie King says he's as optimistic as ever that he can beat his better known opposition in the September primary.
Polls show that King, who once ran for Lieutenant-Governor in New York, is far behind his better-known competition -- former US Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green. But King says what gives him hope is that the number of undecideds is still greater than the support for Cuomo and Green.
"For candidates like me, who are not well known, it is a perfect opportunity to introduce ourselves to the public," King said.
And King says he's doing that by that through what he's calling "The People's Campaign for the People's Lawyer." He's issuing a call for all New Yorkers to contact him with stories of healthcare fraud.
"I'm sure people know someone in their family or community who has been denied health care, even though they were entitled to receive it," King said. "That's the kind of information we want. We want to expose it, not when I become attorney general but right now."
King also said he would not hesitate to use litigation to force changes in education in New York.
Like his opponents, King has nothing but praise for current Attorney General, and gubernatorial candidate, Eliot Spitzer.
"One of the best things that he's done is that he's brought about structural reform in a place like Wall Street," King said. "I want to bring that same sort of structural reform in the area of education, making sure our school boards are doing the right thing by our kids."
King has never held public office and currently runs Praxis, a non-profit group that provides transitional housing to the homeless.
King is scheduled to campaign in Buffalo this Saturday. Among is local supporters is State Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples.