By Marie Horrigan, CQ Staff

In another bizarre twist to the already confusing contest to replace retiring Rep. Vito J. Fossella , the Staten Island Republican Party has submitted petitions on behalf of the late businessman Frank Powers. Powers’ sudden death on June 22 left the party scrambling for a replacement candidate to run for the only GOP seat in New York City.

Powers was one of five names filed for the Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District, which covers all of Staten Island and the southern tip of Brooklyn. The filing deadline for the primary was midnight Thursday.

The Staten Island Republicans’ efforts to recruit a top-tier candidate failed. Powers wasn’t even their first choice; they courted several higher profile politicians, but all turned down a bid.

The state’s primary is scheduled for Sept. 9, but it is highly unlikely Powers will be on the ballot. The Staten Island Republican Party may be able to substitute another candidate to run in Powers’ stead. Each nominating petition designates a committee to select someone to run if the candidate dies or declines to run. Powers did just that: his “committee to fill vacancies” included Staten Island GOP board members Anthony C. Xanthaki and Lori A Ceciliani and three other Staten Islanders active in the borough’s politics.

But Powers died well before the official filing period, July 7-10. So no one seems to know whether the committee can pick someone to replace Powers on the primary ballot.

State Board of Elections spokesman Robert A. Brehm said the situation presented in this case was unprecedented. It “is not specifically addressed in the [state] election law” and the New York City Board of Elections would have to certify the candidates for the primary, Brehm said.

Joseph LaRocca of the New York City Board of Elections also was unsure what would happen. He said said the board would “accept documents here as they’re filed” and that final decisions would be made by the board’s commissioners.

All calls to the Staten Island Republican Party go to Ameduri Galante Friscia & Curry, the personal injury law firm of party Chairman John Friscia. Friscia has not returned multiple calls for comment. The three other members did not immediately reply to calls for comment.

CQ Politics rates the 13th District race Democrat Favored given the Staten Island Republican Party’s inability to put forward a candidate. Fossella announced his retirement in May after admitting he had a daughter from an ongoing extramarital relationship. The story came to light when Fossella was arrested May 1 in a suburb of Washington, D.C., on drunk driving charges.

New York has several smaller parties, including the Conservative Party, which tends to vote with the Republican Party; the Working Families Party, which tends to support Democratic candidates; and the Independence Party, which is not affiliated with either of the two major parties.

Also running in the Republican primary is retired investment candidate Paul Atanasio, who has the support of the Brooklyn Republican Party and Conservative Parties and is running on both parties’ lines in the primary. The three other candidates for the Republican primary are former state Rep. Robert Straniere, Jamshad Wyne, and health care executive Carmine Morano. Morano is registered with the Independence Party and is running on their line as well as on the Conservative Party line.

The Staten Island Advance has reported extensively on developments in the race.

City Councilman Michael McMahon is listed on both the Democratic Party and the Working Families Party lines. Stephen A. Harrison is the other candidate competing for the Democratic line in the Sept. 9 primary. Harrison has been in the race for months. He held Fossella to the lowest vote of his career in 2006, 57 percent, and argues he deserves a second shot at the seat after running an underestimated and underfunded campaign.