More confusion in S.I. congressional race (NY-13)

[brooklynite]

Source: Crain's New York Business

Republican efforts to find a candidate for the seat being vacated by Rep. Vito Fossella have resulted in four living candidates and no clear pick from the party.

Former Assemblyman Robert Straniere leads the list of Republicans who filed petitions Thursday. Jamshad Wyne, a doctor and borough Republican finance chairman, also filed.

Paul Atanasio, a registered Conservative Party member, filed petitions as did Carmine Morano, who is a registered Independence Party member.

...snip...

“I’ve never seen anything done like this in my life,” said Mike Long, the state chairman of the New York State Conservative Party. He criticized Staten Island Republican officials for not backing a candidate. “Leadership does not hide behind closed doors.”

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/FREE/908662570/1097/newsletter01

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On our side of the fence, Mike McMahon, the DCCC choice, collected 11,000 signatures and raised $500,000 in three weeks. Steve Harrison raised about $150,000 and hasn't reported on petition status.

[musette_sf]

1. why does Staten Island

get to control the Ridge (and also a considerable chunk of the rest of Brooklyn)? i'm long gone and don't really know a lot about current circumstances... but the Brooklyn part seems like it should be a LOT more influential than it is. as conservative as some parts of Brooklyn still are, it's STILL got to be more progressive than SI. i don't get how the whole race centers around Staten Island. i realize SI has grown quite a lot since i left... but still... no one brags about being from SI! (and no one wears "Staten Island" hoodies either. people all over the world wear "Brooklyn" hoodies!)

[speedoo]

2. musette... good question.

My theory is that while the Staten Island demographic is relatively homogenous (white, largely italian-american, older, blue-collar, conservative and republican) the Brooklyn part of the District is relatively varied demographically. Over the time I have known the district, many Italian-Americans have moved from the Brooklyn side over the Bridge to Staten Island. Moving in in their place (at least in my neighborhood) are a lot of asians and eastern europeans.

But it's just a theory.

[musette_sf]

3. i agree in your demographic analysis

but still just don't get why the Brooklyn part of the district seems to be completely unconsidered. if i remember correctly, the district didn't even include Staten Island until the district was apparently gerrymandered so that Guy Molinari's girl could get in and turn it Puke. and now SI seems to own the district?

oh well, i lived in Texas through a bunch of Puke gerrymandering too. and now the Pukes want to do it in Cali. we have got to stop this.

[aquart]

9. Which could bite them in their lily-white asses this year.

If they can't commit to a candidate, and the people feel betrayed by their incompetence, those minorities they piss on could command the election.

Now, for just a moment, I'm going to imagine a Dem Congressman from Staten Island.

[Muttocracy]

5. don't know - all of NYS is horribly gerrymandered. nt

[Jim Lane]

6. A couple reasons....

The first is simple demographics. About two-thirds of the district's voters live in Staten Island, and only one-third in Brooklyn.

Beyond that, Staten Islanders tend to be literally more insular. It's the least populous of the five boroughs and the one that's most isolated geographically. There's more of an us-against-them feeling, reflected in the occasional pushes for Staten Island to secede from New York City. The result of this mindset is that Staten Island voters are more likely to give a strong preference to someone from their borough.

You're right that Brooklyn is bigger, and much better-known worldwide. For that reason, Brooklynites don't have to be so defensive. A Staten Island candidate can get votes in Brooklyn more easily than a Brooklyn candidate can get votes in Staten Island.

Now, looking ahead....

Before Fossella's fall, I'd been wondering about the possibility of a between-Census redistricting. If we take the State Senate this year, as is quite possible, we'll have both houses plus the governorship. We could put through a redistricting based on the 2000 census numbers. It's not customary, but the Supreme Court has said that it's legal (thank you, Tom DeLay!).

One prime component could be to break Staten Island between two different districts. It's currently part of a district that's approximately evenly divided by party registration, while the Democrats representing the adjoining districts (Jerry Nadler and Nydia Velázquez) routinely win by overwhelming margins. It wouldn't be hard to create three comfortably Democratic districts instead.

The numbers tell the story.
NY-8 (Nadler): D+28
NY-12 (Velázquez): D+34
NY-13 (Fossella): D+1

There's plenty of flexibility with the other districts in the area, too, if they needed to be part of the realignment.
NY-9 (Weiner): D+14
NY-11 (Clarke): D+40
NY-14 (Maloney): D+26

If the Republicans don't like it, we could tell them to complain to the Bugman, who gave us the blueprint for it.

[musette_sf]

7. redistricting is definitely what needs to happen

and it's painfully obvious that the redistricting that made SI part of 13 occurred as part of the Contract On America.

in the time i lived on SI it was actually the 17th. then the Molinari Machine stepped in.

[Doctor_J]

4. Leadership does not hide behind closed doors?

Has this goof not been following Bush & Cheney's exploits for 8 years?

[Angleae]

8. four living candidates?

And just how many dead candidates were nominated?