A candidate who unsuccessfully attempted to secure the Republican nomination two years ago for the Assembly seat in the 60th A.D. is giving the seat a second try.
Joe Cammarata, a retired police detective from Staten Island, has been tapped by the Staten Island GOP to run against Democratic Assemblymember Janele Hyer-Spencer, now 18 months into her first term representing the bi-borough district, which includes a swathe of Staten Island adjacent to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, as well as portions of Bay Ridge.
Hyer-Spencer, who replaced Republican Assemblymember Matthew Mirones, who retired at the end of 2006, won the seat that year by approximately 650 votes over her Republican opponent, Anthony Xanthakis, who recently declined to give the race another try.
Everyone agrees that the race – given the party breakdown of the district — will be a competitive one. It’s the “lively politics” of Bay Ridge that put the seat into play, noted Democratic District Leader Ralph Perfetto. In the rest of Brooklyn and most other parts of the city, “The primary is the general election,” Perfetto pointed out.
“It’s not going to be an easy campaign for us,” Perfetto acknowledged. “But, Janele’s working diligently. She’s done what has to be done in this district, where elected officials can’t just sit back and rest on their laurels. These elections can’t be taken for granted. You can’t say that people will vote down the line Democratic. That doesn’t happen here. Bay Ridge is a sophisticated district. If you do the job, people support you. That’s how you get re-elected.”
Craig Eaton, the chair of the Brooklyn Republican Party, said that, from his perspective, the assembly race was winnable.
“I definitely think the Republicans can reclaim the seat,” Eaton told this paper. “Joe Cammarata will be a great candidate. He’s a familiar face and name in Staten Island, and he’s promised to spend a great deal of time in Brooklyn, campaigning and working on constituent services. After the seat was created, the Republican Party held it with Matthew Mirones. I’m disappointed we lost it, by a small margin, and I expect to reclaim it in November.”
The chaos around the congressional seat in the 13th C.D. — which includes all of Staten Island and a portion of Brooklyn — may help Hyer-Spencer, opined one Democratic source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
After Vito Fossella announced he was not running for reelection – in the wake of a DUI arrest and the revelation that he had a second family in Virginia – the Staten Island GOP floundered before selecting Frank Powers, a candidate that will have to run really hard to keep the seat, according to many Republicans.
“What’s going on with the congressional race has given her an advantage,” the insider opined. In addition, said the pundit, Democratic City Councilmember Michael McMahon – who many party insiders consider to be the Dems’ likely congressional candidate – “is going to run well,” and that could benefit Hyer-Spencer.
“I think she wins,” added the source, “and I don’t think it’s a tight race. I think she’ll be comfortably ahead at the end.”
But, one Republican source said he did not believe that the congressional contest would negatively impact Cammarata’s ability to make a good race and possibly take the seat back for the GOP.
The insider noted, “The Cammarata name is known on Staten Island. That helps. His strategy probably is to pile up a big vote on Staten Island, and hope to pull even in Brooklyn, or not lose it too badly. Janele has the advantage of incumbency and the fact that she lives on Staten Island. But, she’s probably more liberal than her district. And, Cammarata’s Italian name gives him something of an advantage that Xanthakis didn’t have.”
The source also said that, if the Assembly Republicans believe the seat is winnable, they would put resources behind it.
Eaton agreed. Asked if the assembly race would be viewed as a stepchild, with all resources poured into keeping the congressional seat, he said, “Not at all. The money comes from different pots.”
Hyer-Spencer does benefit from the fact that she has Republican backers. Among them is Larry Morrish, who told this paper, “I publicly support Janele Hyer-Spencer. She does a fantastic job. She’s bridged the gap in terms of bringing communities together.”
Four years ago, Morrish recalled, he had supported Mirones when Hyer-Spencer ran against him. “But,” he added, “when I saw her, I was impressed. She came back, worked hard for years, didn’t give up on Bay Ridge. If you eliminate the bridge, everybody is related in the district, and she’s approached it completely. She’s worked very hard for the entire district.”
Cammarata retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel and served in Vietnam. He has been a teacher in the public schools, and has worked in the intelligence division of the NYPD. He is also a former businessman. By press time, he had not responded to calls requesting comment.
