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City Council hopeful Thomas Ognibene (l.) shows support to his opponent, Charles Ober
Charles Ober - an openly gay candidate running for the City Council seat formerly held by Dennis Gallagher - said Wednesday he has been smeared by a nasty anti-gay screed.
But Ober, a Democrat, was not alone in denouncing the hateful anonymous missive.
He was joined at a news conference by a potential rival from the opposite side of the political spectrum: Republican hopeful Thomas Ognibene.
The letter - a typed page full of vile hate speech, with frequent spelling and grammatical errors - was sent to an unknown number of households in Ridgewood, Middle Village and Glendale, they said.
"You need to know that one of the candidates that is trying to get Dennis' seat is a f----t," the letter began.
"If you do not want your kids to be exposed to this garbage, you need to make sure you vote - and not for Charlie ... Ober," the diatribe continues. "Our kids will be exposed to f----ts holding hands, kissing and running up Myrtle Ave. in a dress."
Ober said he has fielded about 50 calls and 20 e-mails from residents who said they received a copy of the letter.
Ognibene said he reached out to Ober after three letters were sent to his Middle Village home.
"It's the most horrific thing I've ever seen in politics, in terms of a personal attack," Ognibene said Wednesday - the final day to file petitions for the June 3 election.
Ober, 55, said the bigoted letter has left him feeling "fearful and upset" - but also determined to forge ahead with his campaign in the 30th Council District.
"My sexuality has never been an issue, and I will not allow it to become one now," he said.
Multiple Democratic insiders inferred that Ober and Ognibene - who have been spurned by their respective political parties in the nonpartisan special election - may have concocted the hate mail scheme to boost their candidacies.
"It looks like they manufactured an issue and tried to get press on it," said Michael Reich, executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party.
Others blamed Ober for going along with the conservative Ognibene in a plan to divide the Democratic vote.
"That's absolutely ridiculous," Ober responded. "I'm offended by that."
