What do Congressman Charles Rangel and Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio have in common?

Republican congressional candidate James Buhrmaster wants both Democrats, who are enmeshed in legal troubles, to step down. And he accuses his Democratic challenger, Paul Tonko, of being part of the problem.

Federal authorities have accused Seminerio of creating a bogus consulting firm to hide payments to him. Rangel, the dean of the New York congressional delegation, faces an ethics investigation for failing to pay taxes on rental income for a beach house in the Dominican Republic and using three rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem, including one for a campaign office, and his congressional stationery to drum up private donations to a college center named after him.

Buhrmaster called the case of Queens Assemblyman Seminerio “yet another blemish on the nation’s most dysfunctional legislative body.”

Said Buhrmaster: “If I ran my business the way New York runs its government, I’d be bankrupt or in prison. But in the world of Albany politicians — the world of Paul Tonko — this is all legit.”

According to Buhrmaster, Tonko was a willing participant and a key ally to the political bosses who “hold the purse strings to the coveted pork-barrel, ‘discretionary,’ funds that career politicians use to get re-elected.”

Tonko spokesman Beau Duffy said, “We are disappointed in Jim Buhrmaster. The people of this district are grappling with some serious issues and he has obviously decided he can’t win the race on the issues. He is trying to link Paul to things he has nothing to do with. We are happy to debate Jim Buhrmaster on the issues.”

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