Michael Grimm, the former New York Representative representing Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn, resigned on January 5, 2015, after pleading guilty to a felony tax charge that can lead him to jail. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo scheduled the special election to fill the remainder of Grimm's term for Tuesday, May 5, 2015. The Staten Island Republican Party had searched for candidate after candidate, from Staten Island State Sen. Andrew Lanza, state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, councilman Vincent Ignizio, etc. All of them declined to run, expect for Nicole Malliotakis. However, the the Staten Island GOP decided to nominate Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who is famous nationwide for the Eric Garner grand jury that failed to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the murder of Eric Garner, who died in a chokehold in July 2014. Donovan has the support of Brooklyn Republicans as well, remember Southern Brooklyn (Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Gravesend) is represented as well.
On the Democratic side, the Staten Island Democratic Party have had a tough time trying to find a perfect candidate. They're ideal choice was Assemblyman Michael Cusick, he's from the Mid-Island, Staten Island, and could have had some appeal in the conservative South Shore, Staten Island, but they they nominated Councilman Vincent Gentile from Brooklyn. However, Brooklynites have a hard time winning in a Staten Island-dominated race. Remember Domenic Recchia, the former NYC councilman who ran against Grimm and lost badly in 2014 midterms? However, it seems like Gentile hasn't got traction, Donovan is somewhat popular on Staten Island, a pro-NYPD borough (which isn't a problem), but how the Garner case played out, not so many Staten Islanders care for it. It's a blue-collar, pro-cop borough. Southern Brooklyn is conservative-leaning as well, it's state senator Martin Golden is a conservative. Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn voted for GOP mayoral candidate Joe Lhota in large margins. Some feel that the Staten Island Democratic Party is fading, while national Democrats are ignoring the NY-11 special election all together. It seems like Daniel Donovan is on the road to an easy landslide victory, with turnout looking pretty low, and although Gentile has brought up the Garner issue, it probably can't resonate with Staten Islanders and South Brooklynites. The question remains: Can Vincent Gentile pull off a victory in NY-11?
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http://www.politico.com//story/2015/01/daniel-donovan-114198.html
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
know-about-staten-island-in-re-eric-garner/
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
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