Congressman Vito Fossella (R-NY13) is reportedly going to resign in a few days under pressure from national Repubs. Jay DeDapper, political reporter for WNBC in New York, posted this on his blog late this morning.
Several top New York Republicans said that Congressman Vito Fossella's resignation will come very soon. There was political concern about how best to preserve the seat for the Republicans -- questions about immediate resignation versus finishing out his term and retiring -- but the calculation is there's nothing to be gained from Fossella sticking around. While Staten Island Republicans believe Fossella could at least serve out his term (the rest of the year) national Republicans want him gone. Now.
The reason? The national party wants to increase its chances of holding onto the seat in November.
I always got the impression that Staten Island was a fairly socially conservative area, so it surprised me that the borough's Repubs seem to be backing Fossella. The national party, however, is afraid that Fossella is vulnerable to getting drowned in a national Democratic wave. All the elements are there for a perfect Democratic storm. We all know that barring complete disaster, New York state will go to Obama by 15 points or more. Also, with one district all but certain to go Dem and three or four more in danger of going Dem, there is a possibility of exactly one Repub--John McHugh of the North Country--being left from the entire state under the right conditions.
DeDapper implies that the national Repubs want to close ranks behind Staten Island DA Dan Donovan. There could be a potential monkeywrench in the works, however. If Fossella resigns before July 1, Governor David Patterson has the option of calling a special election. However, DeDapper reports that Patterson might well leave the seat vacant until the November election.
I have to admit, I'm stunned. Just four years ago, the Repubs were acting like wild elephants. Now, they seem to be giving seats away.