Gov. Cuomo announced a special election to fill the congressional seat vacated by Staten Island Republican Michael Grimm, who stepped down and pleaded guilty to tax evasion, will be held May 5.
The governor's announcement squeaked in just under the 12 p.m. Friday deadline a federal judge had given him to choose a date for the special election for the 11th congressional district of New York.
Attorneys for Cuomo told Judge Jack Weinstein that the governor had discretion to delay a special election until the general election in November, but the Brooklyn judge said the delay would be unjustified.
He called the right to representation in government the "central pillar of democracy in this country."
Weinstein said the Republican congressman's resignation Jan. 5 left residents in a 66-square-mile area with a population of 750,000 people "bereft of an advocate to help them navigate the morass of government bureaucracy," including the ability to have a voice as Congress decides whether to authorize an escalation of the use of the military against terrorists.
Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan, a Republican who presented the Eric Garner chokehold case before a grand jury, has said he will run for the vacant seat. Former Rep. Michael McMahon, a Democrat who represented the 13th Congressional District, and Republican State Sen. Andrew Lanza are among others considered to be possible candidates.
