Rachael Gold (l.) and Adriana Garcia campaign for Jim Gennaro on Bell Blvd in Bayside. Bachner for NewsDemocratic State Senate hopeful James Gennaro has spent much of the campaign season trying to chip away at his GOP rival's significant advantage as the 30-year-plus incumbent in the northeast Queens district.
But in the last two weeks, Gennaro has latched onto an issue he believes may give him an edge in his uphill battle against state Sen. Frank Padavan.
"There's a stark difference between myself and Sen. Padavan," said Gennaro, a two-term councilman who is painting Padavan's voting record on women's issues as "extreme," and out of step with his constituents.
Padavan hit back yesterday, saying Gennaro was distorting his record and misleading voters.
"It's an insulting, last-minute, desperate effort to get votes," Padavan said.
Padavan has served the mostly Democratic neighborhoods of northeast Queens since 1973, handily winning reelection without significant challenges.
On Monday, a group of Gennaro's supporters gathered near Padavan's campaign office in Bayside and handed out flyers calling Padavan "rigidly extreme."
"It's time for a change," said Debra Ayala, of Jamaica Hills. "I don't think women are aware of his voting record."
The flyer said Padavan was one of only 10 senators who voted against a 2002 bill that required insurance companies to cover a wide range of exams and treatments for women's health, including Pap smears and bone-density tests.
But Padavan said he sponsored another bill that required insurers to cover services including mammograms, mastectomies and reconstructive surgeries. He also said his office helps to provide women with free mammograms.
Gennaro also noted Padavan has opposed an anti-stalking bill. Padavan said he was opposed to a bill that would ban people from legally protesting outside women's health clinics.
Padavan also said he has supported a bill to provide emergency contraception for rape victims. Gennaro criticized him for opposing a bill that would allow easier access to so-called morning-after pills.
"You need a prescription for birth control pills," Padavan said, explaining he doesn't believe emergency contraception should be an over-the-counter drug. "We heard testimony on this from doctors. I like to think we use some common sense."
Padavan also said he has a good record on other issues important to women, such as health insurance and education.
"I've gotten a lot of phone calls from people getting [Gennaro campaign flyers] and [saying] how outraged they are," Padavan said. "And all of them have been Democrats."
