JEANINE PIRRO'S little-known opponent for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate is close to winning crucial backing from the small but influential Conservative Party, insiders say.
Such a success by former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer would deny Pirro a vital endorsement in what would already be — if she is the GOP nominee — an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton .
And it would be the latest blow for Pirro, the outgoing Westchester County district attorney whose campaign has been marred by stumbles and fund-raising shortfalls.
Tactically, Spencer, a tough-talking ex-Marine who is far more conservative than Pirro on a range of issues, plans to use Conservative Party backing as leverage to convince many still-uncommitted GOP leaders to back him as the only candidate with a chance to defeat Clinton.
State GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik is on a collision course with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno of upstate Rensselaer County, the state's most powerful Republican after Gov. Pataki.
Minarik insisted over the weekend that he'll press ahead with plans to have party leaders formally endorse Pirro for the Senate and former Mass. Gov. William Weld for governor sometime next month.
But Bruno has told friends — as well as some of his party's most powerful leaders — that he wants the GOP to "stay loose" and hold off on making a commitment until January, at the earliest, to give Rochester billionaire and newly turned Republican Thomas Golisano the time he says he needs to decide if he'll seek the GOP's gubernatorial nomination.
In addition, a source familiar with Bruno's thinking said the senator also wants to give Mayor Bloomberg — who is expected to win a landslide victory in tomorrow's election — a chance to consider entering the gubernatorial race.
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