Political Arena
Mateo utilized his media visibility as an entrepreneur and community activist to become involved in Republican politics at a municipal, statewide, and national level.
Even though he is known chiefly for his involvement in GOP politics — he was one of the co-founders of the first GOP club in New York City composed of Dominican immigrants — Mateo has cultivated an image as a wildcard at times, willing to work with different, and sometimes hostile, political factions in order to achieve his goals, some of which his critics have described as quixotic.
Throughout his career Mateo has collaborated with both Al Sharpton and George Pataki—whom he has supported and criticized at different intervals in his career-as well as Michael Bloomberg who enlisted him in his re-election campaign with a specific focus on Latino outreach.
Perhaps his most notable achievement to date in this regard was a speech delivered to the 2004 Republican National Convention, which was held in New York City in August of that year.
Read more about this topic: Fernando Mateo
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