State Senate Watch: Despite Democratic Edge in District, Lanza Will Face No Major Opponent
No challengers emerge for freshman Republican in contested year
Mon, 12 May 2008 16:53:00
If State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) keeps facing general elections like the one scheduled for this fall, he may be set for a career like that of his rarely challenged predecessor, John Marchi (R), who retired after 50 years in 2006.
Without Lanza in the race, however, the seat could be in competition—which helps explain why Republicans in Staten Island seem to be coalescing around the idea of Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan as the potential successor for scandal-ridden Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn). Lanza alone seems to secure the district for the GOP, making this a crucial uncontested race in this year when the Republican Senate majority seems more endangered than almost ever before.
In a year when Democrats are targeting areas they have not before—and when two Republican senators in Queens face mounting opposition—Lanza’s seat seems likely to be ignored in the quest to take over the majority.
Even with an enrollment edge that favors Democrats, the district has long been safe for Republicans: drawn for Marchi, it consists of almost the entire borough, save for the reliably Democratic North Shore.
Democrats rarely mounted challenges against Marchi and, in many instances, cross-endorsed him.
To island Democratic consultant Vincent Montalbano, this was a mistake.
“If you don’t exercise, you get flabby,” he said. “If you don’t find candidates and run them, see whether they can raise money and run a campaign, then you can’t hope to have a good enough bench to choose from.”
Chris Bauer, the executive director of the Staten Island Democratic Party, said there will be a candidate.
“Names are floating around,” Bauer said. “We don’t like to see races go unchallenged. It’s just tough to get somebody to run against an incumbent.”
He refused to provide any names being considered.
Names not being considered, however, are those of all the Democratic elected officials in the district. Titone and the other two local Assembly members say they enjoy their positions in the majority. City Council Member Michael McMahon, meanwhile, is gearing up for a race for Staten Island borough president next year.
Titone—whose profile from his race against Lanza helped win him the Democratic nomination and win in the special election to fill the Assembly seat of the late John Lavelle—said that candidates interested in future races should be in the Senate race this year. Realistically, he said, that is the only real reason to take on Lanza.
“The only real reason to run a race for the 24th Senatorial district is if you have aspirations to run for the mid-island council seat and you want to get your message out there early,” Titone said.
Democrats have not prioritized this race, even when presented with an issue that might make Lanza vulnerable: his public support for congestion pricing, though the issue never formally came up for a vote in either chamber of the Legislature. Three-quarters of Staten Islanders opposed congestion pricing.
But that alone would not be enough rationale for a candidacy, according to Assembly Member Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island), who came out against congestion pricing after the bill died and is not interested in challenging Lanza.
“I don’t think one issue defines an elected or a candidate,” Cusick said. “Staten Island isn’t a one-issue borough.”
State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), who represents a neighboring district and is in charge of recruiting Senate Democrats statewide, explained that the decision to skip Lanza’s race was practical: her party’s efforts, she said, must be focused on winning high-profile races.
“We’re one seat away from the majority and we have to target our resources in the best way,” she said. “We’re not going to toss a blanket on the state.”
Lanza is confident that voters will understand his positions on congestion pricing and the other issues that have come up during his first term; and even without an opponent, he plans to campaign as usual by traveling around the district, trying to convince constituents that he made the right decision on congestion pricing and other issues.
With congestion pricing no longer an issue, Lanza will be able to promote his success in making the borough its own judicial district through a bill which Island legislators had been trying to get signed for two decades. Lanza collaborated with Cusick to get then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) to sign the bill into law last December.
“I refused to accept it couldn’t happen,” Lanza said. “I picked a few priorities, and that was number one on my list.”
Lanza said he had not thought about running for Senate until Marchi announced his retirement in the spring of 2006. But finally getting the new judicial district established in his first term is the kind of accomplishment he believes his constituents were hoping for when they first elected him, and will appreciate when he goes before them again this fall.
“That single accomplishment,” Lanza said, “told me that I made the right decision.”
Without Lanza in the race, however, the seat could be in competition—which helps explain why Republicans in Staten Island seem to be coalescing around the idea of Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan as the potential successor for scandal-ridden Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn). Lanza alone seems to secure the district for the GOP, making this a crucial uncontested race in this year when the Republican Senate majority seems more endangered than almost ever before.
In a year when Democrats are targeting areas they have not before—and when two Republican senators in Queens face mounting opposition—Lanza’s seat seems likely to be ignored in the quest to take over the majority.
Even with an enrollment edge that favors Democrats, the district has long been safe for Republicans: drawn for Marchi, it consists of almost the entire borough, save for the reliably Democratic North Shore.
Democrats rarely mounted challenges against Marchi and, in many instances, cross-endorsed him.
To island Democratic consultant Vincent Montalbano, this was a mistake.
“If you don’t exercise, you get flabby,” he said. “If you don’t find candidates and run them, see whether they can raise money and run a campaign, then you can’t hope to have a good enough bench to choose from.”
Chris Bauer, the executive director of the Staten Island Democratic Party, said there will be a candidate.
“Names are floating around,” Bauer said. “We don’t like to see races go unchallenged. It’s just tough to get somebody to run against an incumbent.”
He refused to provide any names being considered.
Names not being considered, however, are those of all the Democratic elected officials in the district. Titone and the other two local Assembly members say they enjoy their positions in the majority. City Council Member Michael McMahon, meanwhile, is gearing up for a race for Staten Island borough president next year.
Titone—whose profile from his race against Lanza helped win him the Democratic nomination and win in the special election to fill the Assembly seat of the late John Lavelle—said that candidates interested in future races should be in the Senate race this year. Realistically, he said, that is the only real reason to take on Lanza.
“The only real reason to run a race for the 24th Senatorial district is if you have aspirations to run for the mid-island council seat and you want to get your message out there early,” Titone said.
Democrats have not prioritized this race, even when presented with an issue that might make Lanza vulnerable: his public support for congestion pricing, though the issue never formally came up for a vote in either chamber of the Legislature. Three-quarters of Staten Islanders opposed congestion pricing.
But that alone would not be enough rationale for a candidacy, according to Assembly Member Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island), who came out against congestion pricing after the bill died and is not interested in challenging Lanza.
“I don’t think one issue defines an elected or a candidate,” Cusick said. “Staten Island isn’t a one-issue borough.”
State Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), who represents a neighboring district and is in charge of recruiting Senate Democrats statewide, explained that the decision to skip Lanza’s race was practical: her party’s efforts, she said, must be focused on winning high-profile races.
“We’re one seat away from the majority and we have to target our resources in the best way,” she said. “We’re not going to toss a blanket on the state.”
Lanza is confident that voters will understand his positions on congestion pricing and the other issues that have come up during his first term; and even without an opponent, he plans to campaign as usual by traveling around the district, trying to convince constituents that he made the right decision on congestion pricing and other issues.
With congestion pricing no longer an issue, Lanza will be able to promote his success in making the borough its own judicial district through a bill which Island legislators had been trying to get signed for two decades. Lanza collaborated with Cusick to get then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) to sign the bill into law last December.
“I refused to accept it couldn’t happen,” Lanza said. “I picked a few priorities, and that was number one on my list.”
Lanza said he had not thought about running for Senate until Marchi announced his retirement in the spring of 2006. But finally getting the new judicial district established in his first term is the kind of accomplishment he believes his constituents were hoping for when they first elected him, and will appreciate when he goes before them again this fall.
“That single accomplishment,” Lanza said, “told me that I made the right decision.”
