STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Election day is just over a week away.
But you wouldn’t know it on Staten Island. That’s because we have only one contested race here.
One.
So I guess there’s nothing that Democrats and Republicans disagree on?
It’s nice that Staten Island Republican and Democratic elected officials can band together when they have to in order to protect the borough’s interests.
But not to the point that they leave each other alone come campaign time.
City Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) is the only elected official facing opposition on Tuesday. She’s being challenged by radio host Ruslan Shamal, a Republican who is running on the Safe Streets SI party line.
Democratic District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, one of the more conservative district attorneys in New York, is running unopposed.
McMahon for my money has been on the right side of the ongoing debate over criminal justice reform, including concerns over how the “Raise the Age” law has increased gun violence among youths.
But that’s me. I can’t imagine that far-left Democrats and those who marched in “defund the police” demonstrations would agree. But there was no primary challenge to McMahon.
No Republican stepped forward either. Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn), the borough GOP chair, said that the party had sought a candidate to run against McMahon but were unsuccessful.
Pity.
Even if top Republicans, who know McMahon well after all these years, agree that the district attorney has done a good job, is there nothing at all worth debating?
McMahon’s certainly not alone in being alone on the ballot.
Also running unopposed are Councilmen David Carr (R-Mid-Island) and Joe Borrelli (R-South Shore), and Civil Court candidate Michael Pinto, also a Republican.
This is not to say that any candidate is subpar and shouldn’t be elected. It’s just stunning that nobody seems to want to have an exchange of ideas, including the political parties and all those community activists and agitators out there.
We certainly don’t lack for issues.
We have a huge problem with borough youths dying violently on our streets and otherwise being caught up in dangerous or criminal activity.
We have the ongoing migrant crisis. It’s one of the biggest stories in the nation and it’s happening right in our own backyard.
We have continued disagreement over Vision Zero and the expansion of the city speed camera network. We have concerns about the coming congestion pricing tax.
We have questions over how the rollout of legal weed is being handled, including legal weed’s implications for law enforcement and underage kids.
And if all else fails, just throw former President Donald Trump’s name out there. That’s sure to get a reaction.
But what we have is crickets.
I get it. The North Shore is for the Democrats, the South Shore is for the Republicans, and the Mid-Island is the battleground.
But one disputed race? That’s just too clubby.
Running for office is a thankless job. I know, having covered losing candidates in countless campaigns during my years as the Advance’s political editor.
Campaigns take a toll on the candidate and on their families, even for the winners. Time and money is spent that can never be gotten back. You open yourself up to all kinds of online abuse. The hours are endless.
We’ve had plenty of major party, minor party and fringe candidates who knew in their hearts that they weren’t going to win. But they made their arguments anyway. They made the other side speak to their issues.
But we’re seeing less and less of that, despite generous campaign matching fund programs that ease the fundraising burden and despite myriad social platforms that allow candidates to reach voters without having to rely on the mainstream media.
But it’s quiet on the Staten Island campaign trail as Election Day approaches. The borough is poorer for it.
STATEN ISLAND STORIES FROM TOM WROBLESKI
Empty Staten Island Mall, vanished homes and stores, and strange sites along the waterfront. See the photos
Beaten down by traffic, I left my car home for a day and took mass transit. Here’s what happened
Mission impossible: trying not to stress out about losing ‘my’ parking space in front of my house
Staten Island loses with so many candidates here running unopposed (opinion)
9
35
07.11.2023
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Election day is just over a week away.
But you wouldn’t know it on Staten Island. That’s because we have only one contested race here.
One.
So I guess there’s nothing that Democrats and Republicans disagree on?
It’s nice that Staten Island Republican and Democratic elected officials can band together when they have to in order to protect the borough’s interests.
But not to the point that they leave each other alone come campaign time.
City Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) is the only elected official facing opposition on Tuesday. She’s being challenged by radio host Ruslan Shamal, a Republican who is running on the Safe Streets SI party line.
Democratic District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, one of the more conservative district attorneys in New York, is running unopposed.
McMahon for my money has been on the right side of the ongoing debate over criminal justice reform, including concerns over how the “Raise the Age” law has increased gun violence among youths.
But that’s me. I can’t imagine that........
© The Staten Island Advance
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
