Time flies in politics and now that Vito Fossella/DWI/love child bombshell hit NYC feels like forever ago. Well, just a few weeks but with a primary less than four months from now and the general election to hold the seat within six, things are getting dicey for the Republicans in Staten Island. There were a couple big names like Wiese and Donovan that were floated to take over once Fossella decided to not run for re-election, but they are long gone and the Grand Old Party is desperately looking for someone to pick up their flag.
From The Staten Island Advance:
While the seat is considered the crown jewel of borough politics, top Republicans have been hesitant to get in the race. Two other top-tier candidates, District Attorney Daniel Donovan and County Clerk Stephen Fiala, took their names out of consideration last week.The party's inability to lock in a high-profile candidate is not sitting well with some Republicans.
WAKE-UP CALL
"It's a wake-up call," said one. "We can't be one-personcentric. Because when that one person goes down, we all go down."
The borough GOP has been accused of becoming too reliant on Fossella in recent years at the expense of developing a strong enough bench.
"Talk about dysfunctional?" said another. "This is dysfunctional."
I whole-heartedly agree. The Republican apparatus has been plateauing for some time now and they haven't done much about the fact that Dems have sailed by them. The district now leans Democratic and they are poised to add NY-13 to Democratic Congressional Delegation from New York.
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