well as in Illinois, where state legislator Judy Koehler failed to dislodge Senator Alan Dixon. Finkelstein also steered Californian Elton Gallegly to his initial victory for Congress, but failed to push State Sen. Ed Davis to victory in the California U.S. Senate primary. In 1985–87, Finkelstein was part of the team advising former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick for a possible campaign for the Presidency.Edsall, Thomas B., "Kirkpatrick Indicates Interest in White House; Kemp May Suffer if Ex-Envoy Runs", The Washington Post, October 17, 1987. Kirkpatrick ultimately declined to run. The Florida Senate contest of 1988 — closest in the country that year — was among Finkelstein's signature efforts. Congressman Connie Mack III won a tougher-than-expected primary, but his campaign did not wait for the results of the early-October Democratic runoff. Finkelstein determined (correctly) that Congressman Buddy MacKay would emerge from the bitter face-off, and began running TV and radio ads re-defining MacKay through his liberal voting record, with the tagline, "Hey Buddy, You're a Liberal." MacKay's primary and runoff campaign had focused on ethics — appropriate for defeating Democrat Bill Gunter, but useless against Mack — and he failed to blunt the ideological attack. Still, the "Hey Buddy" ads were unpopular with the press, and 22 of 23 Florida daily newspapers endorsed MacKay. Mack continued to press the liberal vs. conservative contrast in debates and ads, closing with endorsements by the highly popular Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, plus footage of MacKay endorsing various tax increases. A slight majority of voters casting ballots on Election Day backed MacKay, but an aggressive GOP absentee-voter program had already banked a margin of tens of thousands of votes, and Mack was elected senator by a total of 34,512 votes out of 4 million cast. Finkelstein also advised Joe Malone in his campaign against Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy; Malone lost with 34%, but gained enough positive recognition that, in 1990, he was elected Treasurer in the overwhelmingly Democratic state. Another client, Joseph DioGuardi, lost his congressional re-election contest in New York, 48% to 50%, to Nita Lowey. But, in another tight contest decided by absentee voters, Denny Smith won re-election to Congress in Oregon. 1989–94: Focus on New York Brooklyn native Finkelstein had long advised local and state party organizations in New York (e.g., the powerful GOP committees of Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties, then dominant in all three suburban areas). In