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Alex Merced, left, a Tompkinsville blogger with a background in finance, and Hesham El-Meligy, a New Springville interfaith activist, have been picked by the Libertarian Party to run for public advocate and comptroller, respectively.

(Photo courtesy of Facebook/Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island Libertarians are looking to play a big role in this fall's elections -- announcing last week that not one but two of its members are aiming to run for citywide office.

Interfaith activist Hesham El-Meligy of New Springville was nominated last month by the Libertarian Party to run for city comptroller.

Now he'll be joined by Alex Merced, a Tompkinsville blogger with a background in finance, who has been tapped by Libertarians to run for public advocate.

Merced has lived on the Island for a year and is a self-published author of four books on Libertarian philosophy, which espouses limited government and individual freedom.

He told the Advance that, as public advocate, he would seek to "get a daily dialogue going" through blogging to produce "a discussion as a city" about problems that can be solved by individuals, instead of relying on change via governmental policy decisions that can take time.

El-Meligy, an advocate for the Muslim community, has said as comptroller he would look for ways to reduce wasteful spending.

While ex-madam Kristin Davis has said she is the Libertarian Party candidate for comptroller, El-Meligy is the party-backed candidate.

Ms. Davis has said she supplied former Gov. Elliot Spitzer with prostitutes, something Spitzer, a Democratic candidate for comptroller, has denied.

Libertarians have also nominated Brooklyn veteran Michael Sanchez to run for mayor.

Citywide candidates who do not run on an established party line, like the Libertarians, must file 4,000 signatures by Aug. 14, according to Island Libertarian Party chairman Kevin Storberg.

Meanwhile, Island Libertarians also announced they have asked Stapleton small business owner Silas Johnson to run for borough president. Johnson, who has spoken in the past about the impact of high tolls on truckers, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Storberg said 2,000 petition signatures will need to be filed on Johnson's behalf.

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