UPDATED – While Bay Ridge City Councilman Vincent Gentile has many supporters pleading with him to run for Congress, the term-limited lawmaker is not seriously considering a run for the federal seat, according to a knowledgeable source.
“There’s a lot of people wanting him to run but the feeling is it would be a nasty fight and would he really want to go to congress,” said the source. “It’s not something he would look forward to.”
Gentile, as he has been throughout the discourse of finding a Democratic candidate to run for the open 11th District seat covering Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, was unavailable for comment as to his plans.
But Gentile’s political advisor Justin Brannan said Gentile is still considering the run and there is nothing new to report.
“We’re still going through the interview process with the Staten Island Democratic Committee and we’re not any closer either way to doing it or not doing it,” said Brannan. “Everybody is coming to us and we don’t want to play hokey-pokey with it or play any games.”
Should Gentile drop out of the race, it makes a clear path for Assemblyman Bill Colton to get the Democratic nod. Colton’s district that includes Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend and Dyker Heights is the only Brooklyn district that is wholly in the 11th Congressional District.
The Staten Island Republicans have already endorsed the District Attorney Dan Donovan on the GOP side.
The seat became open after former Rep. Michael Grimm resigned last month in disgrace after a felony conviction. It is unclear at press time if Gov. Andrew Cuomo will call a special election for the seat or wait until the regular election cycle of a primary in September and a general election in November.
