Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio said this morning the Democratic Party is in no rush to endorse any one candidate for the vacant 11th District Congressional seat until Governor Andrew Cuomo makes up his mind on whether to hold a special election or wait until the next regular general election in November.
“He (Cuomo) was comfortable in not holding a special election despite having a number of assembly and senate seats empty for the 2014 legislative session in Albany,” said Seddio, speculating that Cuomo may be thinking that one congressional seat may not make a lot of difference between now and November.
A special election during the regular election cycle would probably allow for more voter participation, Seddio said.
Ironically, Staten Island GOP District Attorney Dan Donovan is up for re-election this November, which means he will have to decide between running for one office or the other. If a special election was held before then, he could run for Congress without risking his current DA position.
Seddio said he did speak with both Brooklyn Assemblyman Bill Colton and City Councilman Vincent Gentile as well as Staten Island Assemblyman Michael Cusick – all of whom have said they are interested in running for the seat. He did emphasize to them that as Staten Island is most of the district, it will ultimately be Staten Island Democratic Party Chair John Gulino‘s call on who gets the nod to run.
“John and I have a long relationship, and in the political world we’ve always been very supportive of one another. When the time comes to pick a candidate it will be well discussed and thought out,” said Seddio.
Seddio said he feels both Colton and Gentile would make good qualified candidates. Vinnie has a bigger piece of the district, but Colton has good numbers with the growing Russian- and Chinese-American population in the district, he said.
