In a move that political observers did not see coming, the Staten Island Republican Party last night unanimously endorsed Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member and retired Wall Street executive Frank Powers to replace GOP Rep. Vito Fossella in Congress.

“I’m going to give it a hard fight,” Powers told members of the GOP county committee at their convention in the Excelsior Grand, New Dorp. “I intend to give it every ounce I can.”

While Powers, a Todt Hill resident, has been a big fund-raiser and supporter of Fossella and other GOP candidates over the years, his name was not one that was bandied about in recent days for the seat.

The Republicans have had trouble finding a candidate, with one well-known elected official after another declining to run.

The last top-tier GOP candidate looking at the race, state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore) yesterday said he would not run because he was concerned about the effect a congressional career would have on his young family.

“I decided I wanted to put myself out there as a candidate because things seemed to be faltering,” Powers told the Advance. Republicans said Powers emerged as a serious candidate only yesterday afternoon.

Staten Island Democrats on Wednesday endorsed North Shore City Councilman Michael McMahon for the race. McMahon is opposed by Brooklyn attorney Stephen Harrison in a party primary.

Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), rocked by revelations that he’d fathered a daughter with a Virginia woman during an extramarital affair, last week said he would not seek another term in the House. Fossella did not attend last night’s convention, but his father, Vito Sr., and the congressman’s uncle, Frank, were in attendance.

“I think Frank Powers is a wonderful person,” Vito Fossella Sr. told the Advance at the end of the night.

Source: Staten Island Advance Read the complete article here