Following the death of their candidate for Congress, Republican leaders on Staten Island and in Brooklyn are turning their attention in earnest — once again — to finding potential candidates to run for the seat. And they say they will probably reach a decision by the weekend.

Party leaders on Staten Island said they were looking seriously at a number of potential candidates. The most prominent is Matthew Mirones, a former assemblyman who operates a prosthetics company. They had also considered Lisa Giovinazzo, a lawyer and part-time anchor at the cable channel NY1 News. But on Wednesday, Ms. Giovinazzo said she would not be a candidate.

Craig Eaton, the party chairman in Brooklyn, has spoken favorably about the possibility of a bid by Paul Atanasio, a retired investment banker who lives in Brooklyn and is a member of the Conservative Party. Mr. Atanasio was involved in a nepotism controversy involving a city agency nine years ago, but Mr. Eaton said he did not think that would hurt his chances.

Guy V. Molinari, a former Staten Island borough president and the dean of the island’s Republicans, said he planned to speak with at least two other potential candidates in the coming days. Mr. Molinari declined to disclose their names.

The seat is being vacated by Representative Vito J. Fossella. On Sunday, Francis H. Powers, who was selected last month to run for the seat, died of a heart attack, igniting a scramble to find a replacement. There are only two weeks left to collect signatures for nominating petitions.

Since his election in 1997, Mr. Fossella has been the only Republican representing the city in Congress. He announced last month that he would not seek a sixth term, after his arrest on May 1 on a charge of driving while intoxicated, followed by his admission that he had fathered a daughter in an extramarital relationship.

John S. Friscia, the Republican Party chairman on Staten Island, said on Wednesday that the party was nowhere near reaching a decision on a candidate.

“We’ve been through a tough set of circumstances that have been totally unpredictable,” Mr. Friscia said in an interview after Mr. Powers’s wake. His funeral will be held on Friday on Staten Island. “I’ve had a few conversations with people interested in the race. But people are not inclined to talk seriously about politics right now, before Frank’s funeral. People feel odd speaking to me about politics, and I feel odd speaking to them.”

Each of the potential candidates now being considered has significant political strengths and weaknesses.

Mr. Atanasio resigned under fire from the board of the city’s School Construction Authority in 1999. He had been accused of nepotism by city and state investigators after an investigation into a construction accident at a Brooklyn elementary school in which a girl was killed by a falling brick. According to the investigators, Mr. Atanasio helped his secretary’s husband, who had little construction experience, secure a job as project overseer.

Mr. Eaton, the Brooklyn party chairman, played down Mr. Atanasio’s role in the controversy. “I don’t think it’s a real significant issue,” he said. “It happened a long time ago. I don’t know the particulars of what happened. But from the people I have spoken with, it doesn’t seem to be anything that would preclude him from seeking the seat or from being elected.”

Beyond that case, Mr. Atanasio is not a registered Republican. It would take a vote by Staten Island Republican leaders to allow him to run on that ballot line.

Mr. Mirones is a former legislator familiar to voters in the 13th Congressional District, which includes Staten Island and portions of Brooklyn. He has a successful business and is seen as having the financial resources to help finance a campaign.

But Mr. Mirones seems to have few friends among Staten Island Republicans. They have criticized him, saying he had little to do with the party after he declined in 2006 to run for a third term in the Assembly. Mr. Mirones did not return telephone messages left at his office on Wednesday.

Michael E. McMahon, a Democrat, is the choice of his party leaders to seek Mr. Fossella’s seat.

Source: NY Times