It has been a rough year for Republicans on Staten Island so far. Their embattled, but still incumbent Congressman Vito Fossella was caught driving drunk in Virginia, which subsequently led to the discovery of his secondary family and that brought down his house of cards...and his chances at being re-elected. Then a slew of possible challengers declined to run for the seat and when one finally stepped up, he died tragically of a heart attack. Now the petition filing deadline is looming next week and the only hope they have isn't even a Republican. Oy for them!
From The NYT Cityroom:
Republican leaders say that Mr. Powers campaign had collected about 1,500 signatures on Mr. Powers’s petitions. If there are more than the required 1,250, Mr. Powers’s committee on vacancy would be able to name a candidate to take his place on the ballot. That committee is controlled by party officials.
Mr. Morano said that he was planning to begin collecting signatures to qualify for the Republican line, apart from Mr. Powers’ petitions, in the event he is selected by Republican leaders to run on that party’s line.
Meanwhile, Jamshad Wyne, a cardiologist who is the finance chairman of the Staten Island Republican Party, is also a candidate for the seat. Dr. Wyne said that he has already collected 2,000 signatures and that he plans to continue getting more until the filing deadline.
But he has little support among the party’s leaders. They point to the fact that Dr. Wyne was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for three years in 2003 by the state Health Department’s Board for Professional Medical Conduct. The board said that he had practiced “with negligence on more than one occasion.”
So right now, the battle is between an Independence Party member and a negligent cardiologist. I'd really hate to be in Guy Molinari's shoes right now. How embarrassing would it be if they lost the seat in blowout fashion. It certainly could happen, and as we work for the Democratic nominee, whether it be a progressive like Harrison or Councilman McMahon, we will flip NY-13 to the Democratic Party.
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