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G.O.P. Struggles to Replace a Favorite Son
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| Contributor | karin1492 |
| Last Edited | karin1492 May 27, 2008 01:19pm |
| Category | News |
| News Date | May 27, 2008 01:00pm |
| Description | Finding a candidate to replace Representative Vito J. Fossella, who will step down at the end of the year, is proving much harder than Republican Party leaders ever imagined.
Since Mr. Fossella admitted having a child out of wedlock more than two weeks ago, Republican after Republican, including some of the district’s best known elected officials, has opted not to run for his seat. Now Republican leaders are seriously questioning whether they can find a candidate capable of winning a seat that the party has held for 28 years.
“We’re hurting,” said Guy V. Molinari, the former Staten Island borough president and dean of the island’s Republicans. “I think that the Congressional seat is probably the most coveted seat locally. And yet, with the vacancy approaching, those that we thought would be the leading candidates in this case, particularly the incumbent elected officials, are taking a pass.”
A week ago, Mr. Fossella announced that he would not seek a sixth full term in November. He was arrested on May 1 on charges of driving while intoxicated and admitted soon after that he had fathered a daughter, who is now 3, out of wedlock.
The 13th Congressional District, which includes all of Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn, is the only Congressional district in New York City with a Republican incumbent.
On Friday, Stephen J. Fiala, the county clerk and commissioner for jurors for Staten Island, announced that he would not be a candidate for Congress, saying he disliked having to raise huge sums of money. Mr. Fiala’s decision came one day after Daniel M. Donovan Jr., the Staten Island district attorney, said he would not run for the seat.
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