GOP Scrambles for 13th C.D. Candidate
As More Staten Islanders Decline
PERFETTO ASKS DEMOCRATS TO BACK HARRISON TO TAKE FOSSELLA’S SEAT
By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Eagle
BAY RIDGE — The frantic search for a successor to outgoing Congressman Vito Fossella has become a mess for Republicans scrambling to keep their Republican seat in Congress and a potential gold mine for Democrats should the GOP fail. Emerging from the swirling political vortex is the possibility that both parties for the first time may have candidates from Brooklyn, not Staten Island.
Of the 13th C.D., frustrated Chairman Craig Eaton of the Kings County Republican Committee said, “Normally it’s the Staten Island seat. Honestly, we are aware that in the past that our candidates came from Staten Island. All the Staten Island candidates are dropping out. If I don’t hear of a good choice there, I’m going to push for a candidate from Brooklyn.”
The GOP wasn’t prepared for what happened in May to their favorite son Fossella, Eaton said. “Nobody was prepared.”
Now, it’s decision time for both parties, as well as for Conservatives, as the campaign petitioning begins in the first week of June. The 13th C.D. covers all of Staten Island, Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, and portions of Bensonhurst and Gravesend. The Brooklyn section is one-third of the district’s size.
Democratic 60 AD Male Leader Ralph Perfetto called on Brooklyn Democratic Leader Vito Lopez to support declared candidate Steve Harrison of Bay Ridge.
Conservative Party leaders, including Mike Long, state Conservative Party chair, and Jerry Kassar, Kings County Conservative Party head, are doing their interviews, which could turn up a Brooklyn candidate.
The election year race hit a big political pothole when Fossella, buffeted by a double whammy of scandals with his DWI arrest and admitted extramarital affair which produced an out-of-wedlock child, said he is not running for re-election but staying in office until his term ends on January 3, 2009. Caught off guard, Republican politicians were thrown into disarray.
Commenting to the Daily News last Friday, Democratic Councilman Vincent Gentile, a Dyker Heights resident, said that he does not believe “the myth” that the 13th C.D. post can be won and should be held only by a Staten Island resident. When he was a state senator, he noted, he represented both Brooklyn and Staten Island neighborhoods, like state Senator Diane Savino does now.
At first, Republicans on both sides of the 13th C.D. appeared to be focusing on a Staten Island Republican, with vital Conservative Party support. But that may be about to change in the next few days, pending party political meetings. The Richmond County Republican Party Committee holds its nominating convention May 29.
The list of GOP contenders on Staten Island, in the course of a week, has dwindled as many of the contenders withdrew their names. Richmond County District Attorney Dan Donovan, favored by top national GOP leaders, Richmond County Clerk Stephen Fiala, S.I. GOP Finance Chair Dr. Jamshad Wyne, and Councilman James Oddo have all said they won’t run.
Still mulling a run is state Senator Andrew Lanza, reportedly reluctant to be a candidate since he is a member of state senate Republicans struggling to maintain their slim majority. Other names being mentioned are those of former Assemblyman Robert Straniere and S.I. GOP Chair John Friscia. Radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa, a Brooklyn-born Manhattan resident, offered his name on Tuesday.
State Senator Marty Golden of Bay Ridge quickly squashed any talk about a run. Political insiders have speculated on Bob Capano of Bay Ridge, Fossella’s Brooklyn Community Director who was the right-hand-man for two Democratic Brooklyn borough presidents — Howard Golden and then Marty Markowitz.
Democrats Asked to Rally Round Harrison
The Democrats have one official candidate campaigning for nearly a year, Bay Ridge attorney and civic leader Steve Harrison. In his 2006 campaign against Fossella, Harrison gained 43.3 percent of the vote to Fossella’s 56.7 percent, the best showing by a Democrat in many election years.
As for Councilman Domenic Recchia, Jr.’s rumored congressional campaign, County Democratic leader Vito Lopez has said that Recchia is out of the race. But Recchia has stated that he is looking for what is best to unite the Democrats in wrestling the seat long held by the GOP. Recchia’s campaign coffers are fuller than any other candidate’s.
Meanwhile, state Senator Diane Savino, representing Brooklyn and Staten Island neighborhoods, said she will not make a congressional run, preferring to keep her state Senate seat and run for re-election.
Other possible Democratic contenders are said to be two Staten Islanders, Councilman Michael McMahon and Assemblyman Michael Cusick. Unmentioned in most media reports is Councilman Bill de Blasio of Park Slope-Windsor Terrace, who considered a run in the 13th C.D. in 2006.
“There’s an effort going on to keep people confused,” charged Ralph Perfetto, the influential Democratic 60th AD Male Leader. “I appeal to all our party leaders and Kings County Democratic Party Leader Vito Lopez to get behind Steve Harrison and do the right thing, supporting a winner while unifying our party.”
He dismissed McMahon of Staten Island as not strong enough, and questioned Senator Charles Schumer’s support of Cusick. Perfetto said, “It’s Harrison’s time!”
Conservatives Interviewing
Conservatives are looking to two Brooklyn possibilities. One is Paul Atanasio, 59, who nearly unseated Brooklyn Democratic Congressman Leo Zefferetti in 1980. The retired investment banker is an enrolled Conservative Party member, and Long was his campaign manager in his 1980 race. Atanasio is the brother-in-law of Larry Giovanna, a close friend to Kassar, Long and other top conservatives
The other Brooklyn resident is Tim Cochrane, Xavarian High School’s director of development.
Conservatives are also considering Democratic Councilman McMahon of Staten Island. That’s not unusual, as conservatives in Queens have supported conservative Democrats.
“Jerry Kassar, our Brooklyn party leader, has interviewed Atanasio and Cochrane,” said Mike Long. “Everything is still in flux. Anything can happen.”
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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