March 24, 2007
MANHATTAN LOSES GRIP ON GAY-REPS-FOR-ISLAND-BOROUGHS MONOPOLY
This may be the answer to a trivia question some day: 2007 is the year that Staten Island may elect its first openly gay representative to the State Assembly. The politically Red Borough that usually elects Republicans in a city of Blue State voters, Staten Island is holding a special election following the death of John W. Lavelle, who represented the 61st Assembly District for Staten Island's north shore. Unlike the rest of Richmond County, the north shore of Staten Island generally tilts Democratic and this Tuesday's special election could elevate openly-gay Matthew Titone to the State Assembly. Titone is opposed in the race by Rose Margarella, running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, and Kelvin Alexander, who is running on the Independence Party line. Given that Margarella and Alexander will split the fiscal and social conservative vote, Titone will likely win the race despite his radical gay platform:
Mr. Titone said that his election would indeed be “an exciting thing,” but that he was most concerned about finding ways to increase health care financing in the borough, reducing class sizes in the Assembly district’s schools and making prekindergarten programs available for all 4-year-olds.
Alright, his radically moderate centrist-Democrat platform.
There is another special election on Staten Island this coming Tuesday. Assemblyman Vincent Ignizio was elected to the City Council in a special election February 20th, so his south shore seat must be filled. Democratic leaders feel that their candidate, John S. Mulia, has a chance in the heavily Republican 62nd Assembly District. His Republican opponent is the unfortunately named Louis Tobacco, who was nominated after frontrunner Chester Asbestos dropped out of the race for health reasons*.
*Made that last part up.
Tagged: assembly, gay, politics, staten islandPosted by Lexiphane at March 24, 2007 11:27 PM
| Politics & PolicyTrackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.lexiphane.com/mt/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/1164