Dems And GOP Settle On Candidates For Fossella's House Seat
The party nominations appear to be finally settling down in the open race for retiring Rep. Vito Fossella's (R-NY) seat. The race wasn't on anybody's radar until a few weeks ago, when the seemingly safe congressman was caught up in a series of personal scandals and finally had to announce his retirement.
And with the dust now clearing, it turns out this race could be a serious pick-up opportunity for the Democrats.
During this past week, Staten Island Democrats endorsed New York City councilman Michael McMahon for the seat. City councilman Domenic Recchia had previously raised a lot of money for the race, but would face a big disadvantage in a primary against McMahon. Recchia is from the small portion of Brooklyn included the 13th District, while McMahon is based in Staten Island, which comprises about 2/3 of the district.
As a result, a source close to Recchia told Election Central that he is highly unlikely to remain in the race now, although nothing official has been announced yet.
On the Republican side, they managed to go through just about every high-profile name they could find, and a good number of low-profile people, who all said no. Finally, Staten Island Republicans rallied around businessman Frank Powers, a former board member for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Powers doesn't have much name recognition, but he does have one thing: Money, which House GOP campaigns have had in short supply this cycle.
This going to be a big race. The district was the only New York City seat to vote for President Bush in 2004, but also went for Al Gore in 2000. A strong Democratic year could make the difference.
Former Rep. Guy Molinari, the unofficial leader of the Staten Island GOP, told Election Central a few days ago that the seat could very well flip. "He's (McMahon) probably the toughest one for us to beat."
Who could have possibly imagined this, two years ago?
June 1, 2008 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is amazing, utterly unthinkable, and a much needed sign that the old political backbones are breaking. I think we will see many more "safe" seats flip as the heat goes up agin the Chimpy McWar Co. criminal enterprise. Sen Cornyn in TX is only 4% ahead!
drip drip drip...Sen Obama is the new boss in town.
June 1, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
depends, does November of 2006 count ???
the day after the election in 2006, I started checking which repuglitard senators were on the menu in 2008
I knew they were in trouble
now we got 23 of those bastards on the menu, and they're ALL in trouble
they're losing in Wyoming, for jebus sake
so technically, I knew this, but it wasn't quite two years ago. But in my defense, at this time two years back, I knew we were gonna win control of the Senate, and we did (ford was a disappointment though).
I think we can win from 12 to 18 seats this time. two years back I was considered "crazy", and they call me "even crazier" now
so whadayathink ???
do I get the prize
June 1, 2008 8:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who could have imagined a 60 seat majority in the Senate? Or a 75+ seat majority in the House? These are all possibilities this year!
June 1, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I imagine 67 seats in the senate, and the impeachment of Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, and Alito
cuz you gotta have goals ...
learned that in rehab ...
I'll be here all week, try the veal
June 1, 2008 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you Vito Fosella. Not only do you work doubly hard to teach Americans every where about family values . . . You do the correct thing over the right thing and insure that the better Party gets the seat.
Vito Fosella! Great American of the week!
June 1, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
How did they do that? I didn't hear about any primary. That's unamerican and against the law if they didn't have a primary to select the republican and democratic nominee. I think we should mobilize busloads of people from around the country to descend on this congressional district and protest. One person, one vote!
June 1, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael A, why don;t you go look up NY election law?
If no one runs in the primary then the party has the right to recruit and pick a nominee before the filing deadline in most states. If the primary winning nominee bows out the same usually holds
true. See Torricelli/Lautenberg in NJ for how it can get sticky.
June 1, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think MichaelA was being snarky.
June 1, 2008 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 9th is the primary for New York. These are just Richmond County party endorsements, not selections for who the nominee is. This determines who the local party supports and carries ballot petitions for (starting tomorrow).
June 2, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Poor Guy Molinari, it's been rough on him:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/05/recruiting-a-candidate.php
June 1, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steve Harrison is still also in this race, apparently much to the chagrin of every media outlet, including blogs. Although Harrison is also from that "tiny" area of Brooklyn, as someone who lives in that let me say that it is not insignificant (100k of 350k total enrolled voters), and its actual size is somewhat misleading anyway since many residents of Staten Island are displaced Brooklynites from that very area.
June 1, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, isn't this semi-interesting. This past week, it was dangled in front of the media that talk show host and former Guardian Angel Curtis Sliwa was eyeing the seat for a possible run.
Name recognition? Landslide, in a Republican stronghold. And a candidate who could manage his own political career, beholden to no local SI Republican party hacks.
Boy, the GOP party hacks moved fast, to put an end to that idea. Glad they did. Hope this McMahon guy isn't a Blue Dog of Staten Island.
June 1, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking as someone from the other side of the Verrazno - the Isle of Staten - we needed an SI democrat to run. Sorry Bay Ridge but 1. Staten Islanders are much less likely to vote for a Bklynite to represent our borough. A SI demo has a much better chance of being elected 2. We need a reinvigoration of the SI democratic. This will be great for SI.
So long Vito :)
June 1, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
staten island, huh? that explains a lot. i kid! no, really, good for you for finally getting rid of vino. i volunteered for his opponent in '04 but we didn't make it.
June 1, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
anybody here from Queens ???
I'm from normal parents myself
come on, when am I ever gonna get another chance to use that one
(ducking and running)
June 1, 2008 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are inaccuracies in the post: some important some not. There are two people who are seeking the Democratic nomination in the 13th so far as I know. NYC Council Member Michael McMahon (who was endorsed by the Staten Island County Committee and Steve Harrison who has been endorsed by many political clubs in the District, by Staten Island Peace Action, by Progressive Democrats and by Democracy For NYC. McMahon is a fairly conservative Democrat. Harrison is an anti-war candidate. As I write, no one knows what Mr. McMahon's position on the Iraq war is. There is every indication as of this writing that there will be a spirited contest. The nomination may not be decided until September primary. Stay tuned.
June 1, 2008 9:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm actually a former Staten Islander who went to high school with one of Mr. Powers' sons. He always seemed like a nice guy and all but when I heard this news I became fairly confident the Dems would pick up the seat. Nothing against the man personally, but I just see the Repubs picking the only person who would accept and self-finance. While he may be known among politicos and some others on the island, I don't think he's really well known enough to win against an established, politically experienced, democratic candidate. He is also a somewhat older gentleman and I think any debates with the democratic nominee would be....enlightening. There is a solid conservative support based on the island, but it is more of a "who you know" kind of local politics.....
June 1, 2008 10:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another one bits the dust. Just from being a half a continent away I and don't have tv in the house, just a dvd and vhs player, all my information comes from the internet sites such as this. But I have not heard about this guy, Fossella even at the normal web site much less the msm sites. But good riddence and don't let the door hit you in the butt.
Now, if only we can get a 98% turnover in both the house and senate incumbents in November.
June 2, 2008 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink