NY-11 Special Election Thread

[Suburbia]

If Gentile is the Democratic nominee, I don't even think he can win Bay Ridge or Bensonhurst, let alone some areas in Staten Island.

[smoltchanov]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

[free my dawg]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

Nobody's denying he represents the people of Staten Island well. In fact, it's ridiculous to say he doesn't represent their will. However, considering he knowingly and willfully refused to prosecute a clear-cut manslaughter case to prepare to be Michael Grimm's successor, that's being an objectively bad DA.

Is he a good politician? Yes. Is he a bad DA? Yes, objectively so. Do I think he will be a bad Congressman? Absof***inglutely. Dan Donovan doesn't care about the law or the people of Staten Island. Dan Donovan cares about Dan Donovan.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

If Congressmen representing their districts was really what mattered to you, you'd oppose California's top two all-pastry primary system.  That awful system has produced such ridiculous results as Gary Miller's re-election in 2012 despite the fact that he didn't even remotely represent his constituents views.  Why was it you supported that system again?  Oh right, because you feel Moderate Heros are entitled to a system that is rigged in their favor to keep districts from electing more partisan representatives.  In other words, your just a hypocrite who only cares about Congressmen reflecting the views of their constituents when you agree with their constituent's views.  Glad we cleared that up!

[smoltchanov]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

Nobody's denying he represents the people of Staten Island well. In fact, it's ridiculous to say he doesn't represent their will. However, considering he knowingly and willfully refused to prosecute a clear-cut manslaughter case to prepare to be Michael Grimm's successor, that's being an objectively bad DA.

Is he a good politician? Yes. Is he a bad DA? Yes, objectively so. Do I think he will be a bad Congressman? Absof***inglutely. Dan Donovan doesn't care about the law or the people of Staten Island. Dan Donovan cares about Dan Donovan.

We will see really soon whether it's so. Because he is almost guaranteed to be congressman now. We will see - which one.

[YaBoyNY]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

How about the direct words of my cousin, who's a Republican from Staten Island?

"He's a clown and a half but better than the other guy."

[smoltchanov]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

How about the direct words of my cousin, who's a Republican from Staten Island?

"He's a clown and a half but better than the other guy."

Good words! And the most important part - "better then the other guy". Electoraly that's all that matters.

[free my dawg]

Congrats, Congressman Donovan. Why did I ever doubt myself - of course they'd elect a complete scumbag with no regard for human life.

Not all districts use your criteria of what is a "good congressman"..... Get accustomed to it...

Dan Donovan let a cold-blooded murderer walk free for his own political gain. He was a scumbag of a DA who twisted the law to make himself look good, and will be a scumbag of a Congressman.

Again - it's YOUR vision of situation. A lot of people (especially - on Staten Island) think differently. I beg to differ too. We shall see how Donovan is viewed in the district he runs. And, frankly, that's much more important for him then the opinion of someone from New Hampshire..

How about the direct words of my cousin, who's a Republican from Staten Island?

"He's a clown and a half but better than the other guy."

I mean it also helps that "the other guy" is likely going to represent a tiny portion of the district...

[Boston Bread]

In Staten Islander's mind, what is so bad about these democratic candidates that they would rather vote in criminals like Grimm? The democrats running here have had no crimes on their hands - and even if they did, Staten Islanders supported Cuomo the corrupt.

[free my dawg]

In Staten Islander's mind, what is so bad about these democratic candidates that they would rather vote in criminals like Grimm? The democrats running here have had no crimes on their hands - and even if they did, Staten Islanders supported Cuomo the corrupt.

Most Democrats that run here are from the tiny Brooklyn part. (see Gentile, Recchia)

[IceSpear]

In Staten Islander's mind, what is so bad about these democratic candidates that they would rather vote in criminals like Grimm? The democrats running here have had no crimes on their hands - and even if they did, Staten Islanders supported Cuomo the corrupt.

In the minds of Staten Islanders, "sending a message" that they're independent of NYC is more important than whether or not their Congressman is a criminal. Besides, we're starting to get to the point in politics where partisans would prefer a criminal of their own party over a non criminal of the other party. See FL-Gov 2010/2014. Though at least Dems seem to be better at this than Republicans, considering they dumped Bill Jefferson for a Republican even in a D+22 district.

[Pandaguineapig]

In Staten Islander's mind, what is so bad about these democratic candidates that they would rather vote in criminals like Grimm? The democrats running here have had no crimes on their hands - and even if they did, Staten Islanders supported Cuomo the corrupt.

In the minds of Staten Islanders, "sending a message" that they're independent of NYC is more important than whether or not their Congressman is a criminal. Besides, we're starting to get to the point in politics where partisans would prefer a criminal of their own party over a non criminal of the other party. See FL-Gov 2010/2014. Though at least Dems seem to be better at this than Republicans, considering they dumped Bill Jefferson for a Republican even in a D+22 district.

Not Necessarily, Rangel, Jesse Jackson jr, and John Kitzhaber all got reelected without issue

[IceSpear]

In Staten Islander's mind, what is so bad about these democratic candidates that they would rather vote in criminals like Grimm? The democrats running here have had no crimes on their hands - and even if they did, Staten Islanders supported Cuomo the corrupt.

In the minds of Staten Islanders, "sending a message" that they're independent of NYC is more important than whether or not their Congressman is a criminal. Besides, we're starting to get to the point in politics where partisans would prefer a criminal of their own party over a non criminal of the other party. See FL-Gov 2010/2014. Though at least Dems seem to be better at this than Republicans, considering they dumped Bill Jefferson for a Republican even in a D+22 district.

Not Necessarily, Rangel, Jesse Jackson jr, and John Kitzhaber all got reelected without issue

Didn't it seem like until fairly recently that it was just Kitzhaber's fiance that was the issue? I'm not sure, I didn't really read too much about that. As for the others, I agree. It's a shame that they did/do keep winning. At least this is Rangel's final term.

[Pandaguineapig]

In Staten Islander's mind, what is so bad about these democratic candidates that they would rather vote in criminals like Grimm? The democrats running here have had no crimes on their hands - and even if they did, Staten Islanders supported Cuomo the corrupt.

In the minds of Staten Islanders, "sending a message" that they're independent of NYC is more important than whether or not their Congressman is a criminal. Besides, we're starting to get to the point in politics where partisans would prefer a criminal of their own party over a non criminal of the other party. See FL-Gov 2010/2014. Though at least Dems seem to be better at this than Republicans, considering they dumped Bill Jefferson for a Republican even in a D+22 district.

Not Necessarily, Rangel, Jesse Jackson jr, and John Kitzhaber all got reelected without issue

Didn't it seem like until fairly recently that it was just Kitzhaber's fiance that was the issue? I'm not sure, I didn't really read too much about that. As for the others, I agree. It's a shame that they did/do keep winning. At least this is Rangel's final term.

Yeah Kitzhaber wasn't the best example but something like Joseph Cao only happened because Hurricane Katrina displaced many voters warping the district's PVI, most people have gotten into this football team mentality of voting for your party's candidate no matter how certain their future in prison is

[Suburbia]

Staten Island DA Dan Donovan says he wants to be elected as soon as possible.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/daniel_donovan_on_congressiona.html

[cinyc]

Governor Cuomo has set the NY-11 special election for May 5.

[Suburbia]

Governor Cuomo has set the NY-11 special election for May 5.

Donovan will win only if the Democrats bring back McMahon. If Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Bensonhurst-Dyker Heights) is the nominee, Donovan will win by 10-15 points. He'll even win Bay Ridge.

[Suburbia]

NYC Councilman Vincent Gentile is the Staten Island Democrats' pick to be the Democratic nominee for the NY-11 seat on May 5, 2015.

http://observer.com/2015/02/staten-island-democrats-pick-vincent-gentile-to-run-for-michael-grimms-seat/

[Suburbia]

GOP candidate Daniel Donovan is fundraising off Al Sharpton and the Occupy Wall Street crowd.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/daniel_donovan_campaign_fundra.html

[free my dawg]

Yep, pretty blatant race-baiting. Honestly surprised this didn't happen sooner.

[Suburbia]

Vincent Gentile's campaign accuses Donovan of having ties to the KKK.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/donovan_wants_gentile_apology.html#incart_most-commented_news_article

[NewYorkExpress]

Vincent Gentile's campaign accuses Donovan of having ties to the KKK.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/donovan_wants_gentile_apology.html#incart_most-commented_news_article

You can't play "Six degrees with Kevin Bacon" like this, especially with someone as damning as David Duke.

If Gentile thought he'd hit 40% in November 2016, he just blew that opportunity...unless he can find a more direct link (Did he attend a fundraiser with Duke? What is his prosecutorial record on KKK members and sympathizers?)

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Has anyone polled this race yet?

BTW, Per the AP results page for this election, there's also a state assembly special election being held on the same day as the house race, in the 43rd assembly district.

[cinyc]

Has anyone polled this race yet?

BTW, Per the AP results page for this election, there's also a state assembly special election being held on the same day as the house race, in the 43rd assembly district.

It's a special election in a heavily Democratic Assembly District where the chosen Democrat has been kicked off the ballot due to a technicality.  Who will win it is anyone's guess.  There is someone running under the Republican, Working Families and IIRC, Independence lines, among others.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Does anyone expect Gentile to get within 15 points? within 10?