CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
July 28, 2009 – 12:09 a.m.
McMahon May Elude 2010 Target List
By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff
Back in 2008, it seemed unlikely that Democrat Michael E. McMahon would be the freshman representative for New York’s 13th District.
But with little fanfare, McMahon established such a grasp on the Republican-leaning Staten Island seat that the GOP's hopes of flipping it back are now seen as a long shot.
“He’s pretty strong,” conceded one Republican party aide, noting that he ran a tough race in 2008 and has good name identification in the district, thanks to his seven years on the City Council.
As a result, the 13th District, which last elected a Democrat 30 years ago and voted for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, has dropped down the list of races Republicans are targeting.
While the GOP is aggressively pursuing challenges to first- and second-term New York Democrats like Rep. Eric Massa in the 29th District and John Hall in the 19th, McMahon has thus far attracted just one likely challenger — first-time candidate Michael Allegretti, a former campaign aide to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Allegretti has not officially declared his candidacy, but he has met with the National Republican Campaign Committee and has a fundraising committee already set up.
His family owns Bayside Fuel Oil Corp, a prominent wholesale heating oil terminal operator, and Allegretti “has the ability to raise some serious money,” said Jerry Kassar, chairman of the Conservative Party in Brooklyn. “His family has been active in the Brooklyn district.”
Indeed, Allegretti already has the New York Oil Heating Association, of which Bayside is a member, soliciting funds for him. In an e-mail from to “friends of the oil industry,” NYOHA called Allegretti a “dynamic leader” and said his candidacy creates “an unprecedented opportunity to send ‘one of our own’ to the annals of the United States Capitol.”
But Richard Flanagan, associate professor of political science at the College of Staten Island, said Allegretti’s political and business ties won’t be able to help him overcome a key structural disadvantage — he’s not from Staten Island.
“Anybody coming out of Brooklyn is more or less a sacrificial lamb,” Flanagan said of the sliver of Brooklyn included in the 13th District.
In 2008, that section of the district accounted for just over a quarter of all congressional votes. Staten Island voters, meanwhile, made up 72 percent of the electorate.
GOP officials say it’s likely other local officials will get in the race to challenge McMahon, but those on the ground say they’ve heard little talk of that thus far.
“No one has been making any noise. No one has been making any moves,” said Thomas Wrobleski, political editor of the Staten Island Advance.
A name that pops up now and then is the Republican who held the seat for five terms, Rep. Vito J. Fossella. He resigned in 2008 after an arrest for driving under the influence. A week after the traffic stop, the married father of three acknowledged also having a 3-year-old daughter from an affair with a former Air Force officer.
Fossella is now employed at the Manhattan-based Superfund Investment Group, and has denied interest in running for the seat, though has not entirely ruled it out. Appearing on the Joe Scarborough’s morning radio show on July 22, Fossella said he had “no plans” to run for Congress again.
Flanagan said Fossella’s public appearances have felt like “he’s testing” a return. “Certainly not this time around, maybe 2012,” Flanagan said.
McMahon, meanwhile, continues to inoculate himself from a strong Republican challenge, earning glowing headlines for delivering on parochial interests and building bridges to local officials of all party stripes, helping burnish his image as a nonpartisan problem solver.
“He’s in a very strong position because I think he’s found the right of center pocket and that’s a great spot to be in in that district,” said Flanagan.
Thanks to a moderate record in the City Council and a reputation for “playing well with others,” McMahon earned endorsements from Michael Bloomberg, the Republican-turned-Independent mayor, and Staten Island Borough President James P. Molinaro, a member of the New York Conservative Party, for his 2008 election.
McMahon said he is hopeful to have Molinaro’s support in 2010 as well.
McMahon has also been boosted by the Democratic leadership, which put him on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, a prime spot that allows him to bring home federal money for much-needed infrastructure projects, and blessed his election as freshman whip.
Among his early accomplishments, McMahon points to the $175 million in stimulus money (PL 111-5) he helped obtain to rebuild the Staten Island ferry terminal ramps and bridges, close to $50 million for long-needed improvements on the Staten Island Expressway, and over $200 million to rebuild subway stations in the Brooklyn portion of the district.
McMahon has also earned plaudits locally for defending the financial industry, not a popular position nationally but an important source of jobs in the district.
He was one of six Democrats in the House to vote against the taxation of bonuses for executives of foundering insurance giant AIG amid the backlash against the company — which received federal bailout money — and its executive bonuses in March. He also is fighting attempts to regulate the derivatives market by creating a central exchange, which he argues would compromise “the ability of businesses to manage financial risk.”
McMahon has opened himself up to future attacks from the GOP for his votes supporting the stimulus package, and the energy bill calling for a cap-and-trade program to regulate carbon emissions (
Should worries about the Democrats’ economic agenda continue to grow, he could be dragged down, too.
In the meantime, said Wrobleski, McMahon “hasn’t done anything to make people second-guess” him.
CQ Politics rates the general election race as Democrat Favored.
To see how all the 2010 House races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics election map
Cecily Wu contributed to this story.
Comments
Yet another fiasco, courtesy of the NY GOP. Doesn't Guy Molinari have any more kids or grand-kids interested in politics?
McMahon is right of center? Are you kidding me? He is not feeling the heat? And you take your info from the leftist liberal Tom Wrobleski of the disgusting Staten Island Advance? Wait until you see the heat McMahon will be facing on StatenISland in the month of Aug.
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