Bay Ridge

Donovan to be sworn into office May 12

May 11, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Congressman-elect Dan Donovan talks to a voter during a campaign swing in Dyker Heights on May 4. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas
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Congressman-elect Daniel Donovan is about to become Congressman Daniel Donovan.

Fresh off his landslide victory in the special election for the Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island congressional seat, Donovan will be sworn into office in the U.S. House of Representatives today, May 12, at around 6:30 p.m., his campaign spokesperson announced.

The Staten Island Advance reported that House Speaker John Boehner will administer the oath of office to Donovan.

Donovan, a Republican, handily defeated his opponent, Vincent Gentile, a Democratic City Councilmember representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst, in the May 5 special election.

Donovan had 59 percent of the vote total to Gentile’s 40 percent. Green Party candidate James Lane trailed far behind with just one percent of the vote.

The election had a low turnout with only 10.6 percent of the district’s voters coming to the polls.

Donovan, who has served as the Staten Island district attorney for 12 years, is resigning from that post to take the congressional seat.

Donovan, Gentile and Lane were all running in the special election to succeed former Congressman Michael Grimm, a Republican who represented the 11th Congressional District for four years until he resigned from office on Jan. 5 after pleading guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to tax fraud.

A vast majority of the district’s voters, approximately two-thirds, live on Staten Island. The district crosses the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to take in parts of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst but Brooklyn makes up only about one-third of the congressional district.

But during a campaign swing in Dyker Heights on May 4, the day before the special election, Donovan vowed to provide full representation and services to his Brooklyn constituents.

Donovan said the borough will not be treated like a stepsister to Staten Island.

“We’re going to have a real presence here,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle, adding that he also plans to open a district office in Brooklyn.

Donovan is being sworn into even before his election has officially been certified by the New York City Board of Elections.

The board isn’t expected certify the election results until May 19, but Executive Director Mike Ryan told the Advance that the board has sent a preliminary certification notice to the New York State Board of Elections so that Donovan can go ahead and take his oath of office.

 

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