William Powers is a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 political activist. Before becoming the Republican state chairman, Powers was the chairman of the Rensselaer County Republican Committee.

Powers was an aide to Senator Al D'Amato

Al D'Amato

Alfonse Marcello "Al" D'Amato is an American lawyer and former New York politician. A Republican, he served as United States Senator from New York from 1981 to 1999.-Early life and family:...

. He was elected state chairman two months after the New York Republicans had suffered a crushing defeat in the 1990 gubernatorial election. At the time, the state committee was over $1 million in debt, and Republicans controlled only 19 of New York's 62 counties. Over the next four years, Powers led a rebirth of the party which saw the election of Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani

Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....

 as mayor of New York City in 1993 and the election of George Pataki

George Pataki

George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...

as governor in 1994.