U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan, R-N.Y., successfully fended off a fierce challenge from his predecessor, Michael Grimm, avoiding the ignominious fate of losing re-election to a convicted tax cheat, according to The Associated Press.
Grimm had resigned his Staten Island seat in 2014 and pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion, serving seven months in prison. But not long after he was paroled, Grimm began plotting his comeback bid to unseat Donovan, the former Staten Island district attorney who had replaced him in Washington.
Donovan, 61, had the full weight of the Republican Party behind him. President Donald Trump endorsed him; Donald Trump Jr. recorded a get-out-the-vote phone call; former Mayor Rudy Giuliani held a rally; outside groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a Trump affiliated super PAC, spent more than $1 million on Donovan’s behalf.
The victory denies Democrats the chance to run against a felon in November in the lone Republican-held congressional district left in New York City — a seat that has proved elusive for the party in the past. Max Rose, an Army veteran, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday, and had more than $1 million banked as of the latest filing period.
In other New York primaries Tuesday, Rep. Joseph Crowley, a 10-term incumbent and a member of the House Democratic leadership, lost his renomination race in a stunning upset to a 28-year-old progressive activist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He became the first Democratic incumbent to lose a House primary this year.
Another Democratic incumbent, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, beat back a spirited challenge from Suraj Patel, a hotel executive. And in a competitive Democratic primary for a Syracuse-area House seat, Dana Balter, who had support from several local party organizations, prevailed over Juanita Perez Williams, who was wooed into the race by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Balter will face incumbent Rep. John Katko, a Republican.
Donovan did everything he could to yoke himself to Trump. He printed lawn signs melding versions of their campaign logos. He mentioned the president’s backing at every turn. He even paid for a mobile billboard to drive through Staten Island featuring a picture of himself with Trump, and the words from Trump’s endorsement tweet printed in large, block lettering: “Dan has my full endorsement!”
It clearly worked. With 100 percent of precincts reporting in the 11th District, which encompasses all of Staten Island and some portions of southern Brooklyn, Donovan led Grimm, 64 percent to 36 percent.
To cheers of “Dan! Dan!” Donovan stepped to the lectern at his victory party Tuesday night and first thanked Trump.
“We have a chance to make America great again, and in 17 months of Donald Trump’s administration, look what happened,” he said, reeling off highlights including Trump’s summit with North Korea and his reversal of the nuclear anti-proliferation deal with Iran. “Look at what he has done by being a world leader again and allowing Americans to lead from the front and not from behind.”
Donovan said his next step was to ensure “the only Republican seat in New York City stays Republican” and to hold on to the party’s House majority. He invoked the specter of impeachment for Trump if minority leader Nancy Pelosi and colleagues including Rep. Maxine Waters regain the majority for Democrats. “We cannot let that happen,” he said.
Trump sent out a tweet with congratulations Tuesday night, describing Donovan’s victory as a “tremendous win.”
Grimm, 48, had tried to cast himself as the true Trump candidate — a blunt and outspoken outer-borough politician who he said had been the subject of a Department of Justice “witch hunt,” just like the president. But Grimm’s past — his tumultuous two terms in the House were marked by multiple ethics and criminal investigations and his televised threat to break a reporter in half and throw him over a balcony — and Trump’s endorsement of Donovan proved too much to overcome.
In his endorsement, Trump had warned that a win by Grimm would put the seat in jeopardy in November, opening an opportunity for a Democratic challenger in a traditionally Republican stronghold. “Remember Alabama,” he wrote on Twitter, comparing the race to the U.S. Senate primary victory of Roy Moore, who was accused of child molestation and later lost the race to his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.
On Tuesday night, Grimm chalked up his defeat in part to Trump.
“Our people didn’t come out,” he said. “I guess the president’s endorsement meant more than I thought.”
In late 2014, Grimm had confessed to hiding the true size of his payroll at his Manhattan restaurant, Healthalicious, and avoiding taxes. “Everybody knows about the delivery boys off the books,” Grimm explained at one of his recent debates with Donovan.
Many Democrats had hoped to face Grimm even if he had proved a durable campaigner, winning re-election in 2014 while under a 20-count indictment. Party strategists with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tried to argue in a pre-election memo that they could win the general election in November against either Grimm or Donovan, who the Democrats said had lurched to the right in the recent months.
Rose is one of more than 50 Democrats who have been named to the DCCC’s “red to blue” program for most promising candidates to win Republican-held seats.
At Rose’s campaign party Tuesday night, he immediately took aim at Donovan.
“Dan Donovan is not in the community,” Rose said. “He does not show up when it counts. He is scared to look us in the eye and hold town halls. Frankly, the only thing he is good at is cashing in on corporate PAC checks and acting accordingly.”
He summed up Donovan’s tenure with, “No accomplishments. No energy. No spine.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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