Staten Island

:For other uses, see Staten Island (disambiguation)

Politics

A mainly suburban and white catholic borough, Staten Island politics differ shiftly from the rest of the city, being far more friendly to the Republicans than other boroughs, although the island has far more registered Democrats than Republicans. The main political divide in the borough is between the areas located north of the Staten Island Expressway, who tend to be more liberal, and the south, who tend to be somewhat conservative.

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Local politics

In city elections, Staten Island can be described as a true Republican stronghold. Hence, borough voters overwhemingly backed Michael Bloomberg in the mayoral election of 2001, with 75.87% (84,891 votes) to only 21.15% (23,664) for his democratic opponent, Mark Green, who lost by a very slim margin city wide.

Related Topics:
Michael Bloomberg - Mayoral election of 2001 - Mark Green

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Moreover, two of the only three Republicans of the 51 member city-council are from Staten Island, namely James Oddo and Andrew Lanza. The other city council member for the island is a Democrat, elected in the North Shore, Michael McMahon.

Related Topics:
City-council - James Oddo - Andrew Lanza - North Shore - Michael McMahon

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The borough president is currently James Molinaro, elected in 2001 and the only Republican borough president elected in the city.

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In state-level elections, borough voters also tend to vote Republican, but in lesser numbers. Hence, the borough was the only one to vote for Republican George Pataki in both 2002 and 1998 gubernatorial elections, with 68.42% to 20.92% for his democratic opponent in 2002, and 65.23% to 28.38% in 1998.

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Staten Island representation in the state assembly is equally split between Republicans and Democrats. Hence, the 60th district is represented by Republican Matthew Mirones, and the 62nd, that encompasses most of the south shore of the island, by Vincent Ignizio. But both 61st and 63rd district have elected Democrats, namely John W. Lavelle and Michael J. Cusick.

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In the state senate, the borough is represented by Democratic Diane Savino, whose district is mainly located in Brooklyn, and Republican John J. Marchi, whose district include most of the Island, exept the part of the North Shore who belongs to Lachman's district.

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In order to explain the trend of Staten Island to vote Republican in local election, most local political scientists cite law and order as the issue that resonates most strongly with island voters.

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National politics

In the national elections, Staten Island is not the Republican stronghold it is in local elections. However, it is not a Democratic stronghold like the rest of the city anyway. It can be considered as a swing county, who slightly tend to vote more Republican than Democratic, even if in the late 90s, the island seemed to become increasingly democratic, like other suburbs such as Long Island or Westchester.

Related Topics:
Long Island - Westchester

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The island has only voted for the Democratic presidential nominee three times since 1952 ? in 1964, 1996 and 2000. In 2004, George W. Bush received 57% of the island's votes to 42% for John Kerry; by contrast, Kerry outpolled Bush in the city's other four boroughs cumulatively by a margin of 77% to 22%.

Related Topics:
George W. Bush - John Kerry

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The only congressional seat for Staten Island has been held by the GOP since 1981, and is now held by Vito Fossella, an outspoken conservative. It is the only New York city congressional seat held by the GOP. Before Fossella, Staten Island was represented by Susan Molinari, a moderate Republican who made the keynote speech at the 1996 Republican National Convention.

Related Topics:
Vito Fossella - Susan Molinari - 1996 Republican National Convention

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Oddly enough, it is true that a big majority of Staten Island voters are registered Democrats. According to the New York State Board of Elections, as of april 1, 2005, there are 119,601 registered Democrats in Staten Island versus only 82,193 registered Republicans, or 44.75% of Democrats to 30.75% of Republicans. Since the congressional seat of Vito Fossella includes all of Staten Island, as well as part of heavily Democratic Brooklyn, the Democratic majority always leads to his seat being targeted by Democrats. However, he has never been in danger until 2004, when he anyway won by a 26 point margin in the borough.

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The difference between the clear domination of the Democratic Party in registration and the slight domination of the Republican Party in polls can be attributed to the massive incoming of mostly middle-class Italian American families from the overwhelmingly democratic inner boroughs, mainly Brooklyn. Those people, althrough mainly registered democrats, tend to vote mainly Republican when they settle in the borough, as they become the archetype of the Republican elector : Suburban, white and middle-income, quite religious and married with children. However, as almost all New York election are not competitive, they do not bother to change their registration, becoming DINOs.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn - DINOs

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