The city’s lone Republican Congressman, Rep. Vito Fossella, held onto his Bay Ridge-Staten Island seat even as Democrats stormed back into control of the House of Representatives this week.
Fossella got 57 percent of the vote on Tuesday, beating Bay Ridge lawyer Steve Harrison, who took 43 percent.
Though a former chair of the local community board, Harrison didn’t even take the Brooklyn side of the district, which has a greater tendency to vote Democratic.
Harrison did, however, get closer to Fossella than the incumbent’s prior challenger, Frank Barbaro, who lost by 18 percent in 2004.
Political consultants said Fossella’s ability to survive the Democratic wave and a hard-working opponent boils down to one thing: money.
Fossella had it. Harrison didn’t.
“Steve didn’t have enough dough to communicate,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant, who was not involved in the race.
Gerry O’Brien, a consultant from across the aisle, agreed.
“In America today, a challenger taking on an incumbent isn’t considered serious unless he starts off with $2 million,” said O’Brien.
Harrison raised a mere $109,000 overall, while Fossella’s war chest overflowed with more than $1.3 million.
The money allowed Fossella to run ads on cable television and radio, while Harrison couldn’t even afford mass mailings. All of his literature was hand-delivered.
Harrison’s pleas to the Democratic National Campaign Committee, which underwrites many congressional races, went unheeded, as did his appeals to the local party.
“We got nothing from the Brooklyn county leader,” said Ralph Perfetto, Harrison’s campaign chair. “They all believed that Harrison was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb.
“One [Democratic] congressional office told me, ‘Vito was good to us.’”
Harrison focused on his lack of financing during his concession speech at the Staaten, an Island catering hall.
“We were outspent 15 to 1, [money] that we scraped and clawed to get,” said Harrison.
“If we had gotten the appropriate support from the national committee, I would be Congressman Steve Harrison right now. People in the DCCC must learn to listen to the locals, because if they don’t listen, they lose races like this.”
Fossella’s money also bought him out of some jams, allowing him to run ads in which he claimed to be “independent” of an increasingly unpopular president and a war that largely led to the Democratic gains this week.
During the campaign, Fossella also had to acknowledge misuse of campaign funds for family vacations and deal with the antics of his brother, who cops said chased pedestrians down the street with a baseball bat following a traffic incident.
Of course, Fossella’s success wasn’t all about money. He also had the incumbent’s institutional advantage and a well-organized campaign that helped him where he was potentially weakest: Bay Ridge.
Popular state Sen. Marty Golden ran for re-election unopposed this year, leaving him lots of time to “make Fossella a priority,” said O’Brien.
“His Republican Victory Committee was out there working the grassroots,” he said.
On Wednesday, Democrats were still spinning, despite the Harrison election hangover.
“I wouldn’t look at 14 points as that big a win, when you’re looking at a multi-term incumbent, who’s brought home the bacon, while Harrison never raised any money, and never got his message out there,” said Democratic consultant Stefan Friedman, who did not work this campaign.
For his part, Harrison hinted that he might run again: “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, and there won’t be a toll,” he said during his concession speech.
