The hotly-contested race for the New York 13th Congressional District, a major pickup opportunity for Dems, was seriously shaken up over the weekend with the sudden and tragic passing of GOP candidate Frank Powers, who was found dead in his sleep of apparently natural causes at age 67.

So what happens next? What does the GOP do now?

A national GOP source tells us that the party is already talking to local leaders about potential new candidates, but nothing will happen until after the funeral.

It's worth taking a quick look at the state of the race, because it has suddenly become one of the contests being most closely watched by national strategists in both parties.

This race wasn't on anybody's radar until about a month and a half ago, when incumbent Republican Vito Fossella became mired in a series of personal scandals that resulted in his retirement. The Staten Island-based district is a local stronghold for the GOP within heavily-Democratic New York City, but the party had a tough time finding any candidates willing to run in what is expected to be a Democratic year.

They finally rallied around the wealthy businessman Powers, but are left for now without a candidate to go up against the likely Democratic nominee, moderate-conservative New York City Council member Michael McMahon. McMahon is expected to be very well-funded for the general election race, and could potentially pick this up against even a solid Republican nominee.

A natural place for the GOP to go will be candidates who had previously bowed out. But that doesn't look too promising. A source close to district attorney Dan Donovan, who had been the GOP's first choice before he announced he wouldn't run, told Election Central that Donovan is unlikely to get in: "I think he's comfortable with the decision he made last month."

Another possibility would be candidates who had previously interviewed for the local GOP organization's support, such as TV newscaster Lisa Giovinazzo or businessman Paul Atanasio. Another potential recruit: State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Maltese, who would in many ways be a dream Republican candidate but would have to take a huge risk -- he would have to resign his seat on the bench to even take the first steps of a campaign.

Bottom line: The GOP is scrambling right now, and Dems have a good shot at a major pickup. Stay tuned.