STATEN ISLAND — The Staten Island Republican Party has chosen District Attorney Dan Donovan to run to replace Rep. Michael Grimm as the borough's congressman — and Donovan hopes Eric Garner's death isn't used as a weapon against him.
After a meeting on Saturday, the party backed Donovan to be the nominee over Assemblywoman Nicola Malliotakis in the special election to replace Grimm, who resigned this month after pleading guilty to tax fraud.
"I'm thrilled about their confidence in me," Donovan said Sunday on "The Cats Roundtable" radio show.
Donovan said on the show he hopes Democrats do not turn a grand jury's decision not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for Garner's death into a political issue during the election.
"[The grand jury] upheld their civic duties, and they sat for nine weeks, and they’re the only people that heard all the evidence," he said on the show.
"I think we should respect their decision. You may not agree with it, but you ought to respect it."
Donovan asked for release of limited grand jury information in the wake of the case, but filed motions attempting to block the release of the transcripts of the hearings.
"Our system is the best in the world," Donovan said. "I think we got to be real cautious if people want to jump ahead and try to disrupt the proceedings of the grand jury because they disagree with one matter."
On Friday, Donovan announced his decision to seek the Republican, Conservative and Independent party nominations to run for Grimm's vacant seat. After a nearly two hour meeting on Saturday, the majority 31-member executive committee picked Donovan as its candidate, Capital New York reported.
“It was overwhelmingly in favor of Dan,” John Antoniello, the Staten Island GOP chair who previously announced his support for Donovan, told Capital.
“At the end of the day, because of Dan Donovan’s experience, his integrity, his dedication to his job, and what he’s done in the past, we felt he was the better candidate right now."
Antoniello could not be reached for comment.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference on Monday he would support the Democratic candidate for the seat, but that Donovan would be "an improvement" over Grimm.
“I will support the Democratic nominee," de Blasio said. "That being said, in my previous, personal work with the District Attorney, it’s been respectful and professional for sure. And I think if he does prevail, he will certainly be an improvement over his predecessor.”
On the Democratic side, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, Councilman Vincent Gentile and former Rep. Michael McMahon, who lost his seat to Grimm, have been linked to possible runs.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not yet announced when the special election will be.
