In a special election slated for May 5th, City councilman Vincent Gentile has accepted the Democratic nomination to run against Republican DA Dan Donovan to replace Michael Grimm who pleaded guilty to Federal charges and has resigned his seat in congress. The 11th district covers all of Staten Island and a portion of Brooklyn.
I know Vinnie personally and have had dealings with him in community events. He's a decent guy, a great Democrat and has many friends here on the Island, I'm sure. My concern is that, like many candidates the Democratic organization has put up recently, he's a Brooklyn resident, not a Staten Islander, and this has been a strong negative in races against Republicans who reside here and win.
I wish him all the best and hope that this time my Staten Island neighbors might come to their senses and vote for a decent fella.
For those who are unaware, the Republican contender, Dan Donovan, is our District Attorney who failed (or made sure not) to get an indictment in the Garner case.
9:23 AM PT: [Correction update] Re: Grimm: "under indictment" changed to "pleaded guilty".