Frank Messano, chairman of the board of Italian Charities of America and a prominent figure in the Queens Republican Party and the Maspeth community, passed away Monday after a sudden illness at age 64.

“He was a presence at Republican conventions and had a great depth of knowledge of local and national politics,” former state Sen. Serphin Maltese said. “He was also my good friend.”

Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone), who was arrested last month on accusations that he took part in a scheme to bribe Republican officials in order to get state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) onto the mayoral ballot as a Republican, announced Wednesday that he will not run for a second term.

Halloran, who was first elected in 2009, was arrested April 2, along with Smith and Vince Tabone, former vice chairman of the Queens Republican Party, for an alleged plot to solicit bribes to acquire a Wilson Pakula for Smith, a Democrat, in order for him to get a place on the GOP primary ballot for mayor. He was indicted late last month.

Dear Editor:

You can judge a person’s character by the company they keep “Defending the chairman”(Serphin R. Maltese, Frank Padavan and Michael J. Abel, Letters, April 18) concerning current Queens County Republican Chairman Phil Ragusa.

The indictments of both GOP Councilmember Dan Halloran and Queens County Republican Party Vice Chairperson Vincent Tabone are just the latest chapter in the spiraling decline over the past three decades of the once-relevant Queens County GOP.

One way of judging the health of any political party is looking at the number of candidates who qualify for ballot status on their line.

Up until the 1980s, the GOP routinely qualified candidates for all Congressional, state Senate, Assembly and City Council seats.

After the 1982 reapportionment, Democrats eliminated the districts of Queens GOP Assembly members Rosemary Gunning, John LoPresto, John Flack, Al DelliBovi and John Esposito. Sen.Padavan voted for this plan as it protected both his and the late Sen. Martin Knorr’sown gerrymandered districts.

In 2012, there wereno GOP candidates on the ballot for one of six Congressional, three of seven state Senate and 13 out of 18 state Assembly races in the general election. Watch how many Democratic City Council members will geta free pass with no GOP opponent this year.

After being elected in 1972, Padavan listed Republican-Conservative affiliations on his headquarters’ storefront. In the 1990s the Padavan and Assemblyman Doug Prescott team proudly campaigned as your local Republican/Conservative team. But Republican and Tea Party activists in 2010 were disappointed by Padavan’s campaign headquarters. There was no literature, bumper stickers, posters or lawn signs for his fellow GOP running mates.

A party’s ticket is only strong when all the candidates, from top to bottom, work as a team. Republicans are in trouble when they are afraid to identify party affiliations and campaign on their own. Other Republicans were confused with Padavan’s standard campaign theme, “Nobody Cares Like Frank,” when he obviously didn’t care about them. Both Padavan andMaltese failed for decades to build a Republican brand name when they ran from it. No wonder Maltese lost in 2008 and Padavan lost in 2010.

Queens Republicans are on the way to political extinction like the dinosaurs of old! How disappointing that voters will have to look elsewhere for any alternatives to the Queens County Democratic Party machine monopoly.

The failure to build a viable Queens GOP is the inheritance the lastunderdog Republican City Council member,Eric Ulrich,has to live with.

Dear Editor:

As former elected officials from Queens County, we have had the opportunity to work very closely with Republican Party Chairman Phil Ragusa. We have known Phil for over 30 years and in our experience, he is one of the most honest, diligent, decent and forthright people we have had the pleasure to be associated with in our many years in public service.

Phil has led this Queens County organization for the last seven years and has been an exceptional leader. We admire how he has shown great vision in growing the Queens Republican Party, recruiting a new group of active and dedicated members to lead our party into the future, and attracting talented and qualified candidates to run for office.

It is always shocking when someone in the political arena betrays the public trust and is accused of corrupt activities. It is even more disturbing when those accused are individuals we’ve known for years. What is even more unfortunate and disappointing is when political opportunists use such circumstances to advance their own narrow agendas and personal aspirations for power.

The recent scandal involving two Queens Republicans is allegedly of their own making and now, they must face the consequences. No one should be so cynical as to make baseless charges as to the integrity and forthrightness of Phil Ragusa, or to attempt to use this scandal to tarnish his good name and reputation. No one should be accused of guilt by association.

We realize that there are some who have been trying to replace Chairman Ragusa almost from the minute he was elected chairman. We are appalled at their crass attempt to twist these unfortunate events into a tool to use to undermine Chairman Ragusa’s authority and to serve their own purposes and longstanding agenda.

If these people had more experience, maturity and a basic sense of decency they might instead use this as an opportunity to bring people together and to rally the Queens Republican Party behind their leader and their fellow Republican candidates instead of heading down a path that can only result in damaging the party and further eroding the public’s trust in their Republican elected officials, party leaders and candidates.

We continue to give our full and unqualified support to Phil Ragusa as chairman of the Queens Republican Party and stand ready to defend him against these transparent attacks from longstanding and predictable foes.

Officially the chairman of the Queens Republican Party is Phil Ragusa. But if what U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says is true, that may come as a surprise to the borough party’s Deputy Chairman Vince Tabone, who was one of six people indicted in the scheme centered on state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) and Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone).

The ongoing civil war between two factions of the Queens Republican Party is flaring up again — just in time for the 2013 city elections.

It all began when Queens Republican leaders failed to appropriately renominate Judith Stupp as the borough’s GOP commissioner on the Board of Elections by the Jan. 31 deadline. Stupp, a district leader from Bayside, is a key ally of Queens GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa.

Republicans at the borough and state level are declining to comment on a published report in which Congressman Bob Turner (R-Queens, Brooklyn) said he might be interested in becoming the chairman of the Republican Party in Queens.

Ron Kim defeated four opponents in the race for the State Assembly 40th District Democratic primary. He will face Republican Phil Gim in November. The seat is a redrawn version of the one held by Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), who is dropping it to make a run for Congress.

According to preliminary results, Kim received a total of 1,136 votes, or 27.2 percent, with closest rival Yen Chou receiving 974 votes, or 23.3 percent.

In the final weeks of the Republican primary for the 15th state Senate district, Forest Hills attorney Juan Reyes, backed by the Queens GOP leadership, whacked his opponent, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), for being supported by the state Republicans, for often voting against the wishes of his party and even for being a devout Catholic with gay friends.

In the end, none of it appeared to have worked. If anything, it might have backfired.

In the final weeks of the Republican primary for the 15th state Senate district, Forest Hills attorney Juan Reyes, backed by the Queens GOP leadership, whacked his opponent, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), for being supported by the State Republicans, for often voting against the wishes of his party and even for being a devout Catholic with gay friends.

It’s been three and a half years since Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) won a special election to replace Joe Addabbo Jr. after the latter’s ascension to the state Senate. Now, the 27-year-old Ozone Park native is running against his predecessor for the seat in Albany.

The district — which includes Glendale, Howard Beach, Maspeth, Middle Village and Ozone Park — was in Republican hands for decades before Addabbo won it in 2008. It was redrawn to include conservative-leaning neighborhoods like Kew Gardens Hills, home to a large bloc of Orthodox Jews, and Breezy Point. The new lines make the district more competitive, and that attracted Ulrich, who had been lobbied to run for the seat in 2010 and also for the seat vacated by former Rep. Anthony Weiner in 2011, which was won by Rep. Bob Turner (R-Middle Village).

Former Mayor Ed Koch, whose backing of U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Middle Village) in last year’s Congressional special election was cited as a major reason for the latter’s victory, is making another endorsement

The Democrat, known for often crossing party lines, is sticking to his own in the competitive 15th state Senate District race. Koch announced he was endorsing incumbent state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) for re-election. Addabbo is facing Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) in a more conservative district that includes Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods like Far Rockaway and Kew Gardens Hills.

Former Flushing Meadows Park Administrator Estelle Cooper, 82, of Whitestone, was charged Tuesday with second- and third-degree grand larceny for allegedly stealing more than $50,000 from the nonprofit fundraising group Unisphere Inc. that she ran.

Cooper was arraigned Tuesday before Queens Supreme Court Judge Fernando Camacho. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted and was released on her own recognizance. Her next court date is Sept.12.

The decision by the Supreme Court last Thursday to uphold most of the controversial Affordable Care Act of 2010 — also known as Obamacare — was received pretty much along party lines by Queens elected officials.

The 5-4 ruling by the country’s highest court was a major victory for President Obama, but Republican opponents are continuing to call for the law’s repeal.

Investigations are underway regarding at least $90,000 missing from the accounts of the nonprofit Unisphere Inc., the fundraising arm of Flushing Meadows Park.

The New York Post broke a story Saturday that links former Flushing Meadows Park Administrator Estelle Cooper, 82, with the missing funds. Cooper, who also led Unisphere and was paid $7,500 for her services, resigned in January to head a new political consulting firm in Queens with her grandson, Michael Balsamo.

The Queens Republican Party announced last week that it has endorsed two candidates to oppose state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside) in the fall election.

Opposing Avella, who is completing his first term, will be Joseph Concannon, a retired police officer from Bellerose now in the security business. Ralph Cefalo, long active in Whitestone community groups, will face Braunstein, who is also finishing his first term.

As a key Republican Party nomination battle for state Senate shapes up between Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) and Forest Hills attorney Juan Reyes, the Queens Conservative Party today gave Ulrich an ideological boost by throwing him its support.

A deep fissure in the Queens Republican party will play out in public, and would appear to make a GOP primary inevitable in the 15th Senate District.

Not surprisingly, the Queens Republican Party has selected an Asian candidate to run in the new 26th State Senate District, which was designed to be an Asian-majority area.

J.D. Kim, 39, a lawyer who lives in Flushing, was endorsed by the party on Friday. “Kim has the values and ability to be a great representative and can be counted on to work with and for everyone in the community,” said GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa.

The Queens County Republican Party screening panel endorsed independent candidate Tony Arcabascio on Saturday for state Senate in the 12th Senatorial District.

“Tony as a business executive and technology professional is a ‘can do’ problem solver who can help tackle the problems our community and state are facing,” Queens County Republican Party Chairman Phil Ragusa said.

With ducks quacking in the background and a forceful wind whipping the American flag and red, white and blue balloons, Republican City Councilman Dan Halloran of Whitestone announced his candidacy Monday for the 6th Congressional District seat, saying it’s time for a real change.

Speaking to supporters, party officials and the press at Bowne Park in Flushing, Halloran, 41, said he is in it to win it and “the campaign won’t be distorted by non-issues.”

The war within the Queens Republican Party flared up this week when Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) accused some members of the leadership of corrupt behavior, and his targets responded by slamming the lawmaker’s own ethics.

The party has long been divided between the group that supports the leadership of Chairman Phil Ragusa and an insurgent faction, in which Ulrich has become a leader since his election to the City Council. Other prominent figures in the rebel group include Bart Haggerty, Ulrich’s chief of staff, and his brother, the political operative John Haggerty, who was recently found guilty of stealing nearly a million dollars from the 2009 re-election campaign of Mayor Bloomberg.