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A radio talk show host is in dogfight with a baby-faced Staten Island scion 13 years his junior to represent NYC’s most conservative Council district.
Republican Frank Morano, host of WABC’s “The Other Side of Midnight,” has already locked up endorsements from the Staten Island GOP, all of the borough’s Republican elected officials and key members of President Trump’s inner circle in his campaign to serve the South Shore.
But his path to victory in the April 29 nonpartisan special election is no sure thing.
His stiffest competition: fellow GOPer Griffin Fossella, who comes from a long line of Island power brokers, from his late great-great grandfather, Congressman James O’Leary, to his dad, Borough President and ex-Rep. Vito Fossella.
Morano, 40, said he “never expected the race to be a cakewalk” but isn’t losing sleep competing against the 27-year-old Fossella, or a family dynasty.
“I think Staten Islanders aren’t going to be fooled by a candidate with the same last name who uses a similar campaign slogan (“Staten Island First”) and the same color lawn signs as his father,” said Morano.
He claims Fossella has repeatedly ducked debating him. Fossella insists he’s had scheduling conflicts.
Both Morano and Griffin Fossella are lifelong Staten Islanders who have nearly identical campaign platforms: including opposing congestion pricing and NYC’s sanctuary city policy, advocating for the NYPD to hire thousands of more cops, and pushing for mass-transit affordability.
The two, along with longshot Democrat Clifford Hagen, are vying to replace former Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), who was term-limited and stepped down in January from the $148,000-a-year gig to take a job as a lobbyist.
The winner would serve the remaining months of Borelli’s term, which expires at year’s end — and take a huge advantage into the November general election for a new four-year term.
Fossella said it would “humbling” to win the 51st District Council seat once held by his father in the mid-1990s.
“I think public service is in my blood, and to serve the people of Staten Island would be a dream come true,” he said.
On a local level, both also vehemently oppose a project to build a hotel at the corner of Richmond Valley and Arthur Kill roads because many residents are concerned it will ultimately become a homeless shelter.
President Trump – who is wildly popular on Staten Island — appears to be staying out the race, but Morano has scored key endorsements from former Trump advisors Roger Stone, Michael Caputo, Corey Lewandowski and Trump’s former White House chief Steve Bannon.
Fossella’s endorsements include former Long Island Rep. Peter King, former Brooklyn state Sen. Marty Golden and John Catsimatidis, a billionaire who owns WABC-AM. Griffin Fossella got his first taste of politics working on Catsimatidis’ 2013 mayoral campaign.
Morano and the younger Fossella’s political war chests are nearly identical. Both said they’ve raised over $50,000 and expect to qualify for another $200,000-plus in public matching funds.
Fossella boasts he’s “the only lifelong Republican in the race” – a dig at Morano being a former leader of the state’s now-defunct Independence and Reform parties before registering as a Republican.
Vito Fossella couldn’t be happier — and jabbed his son’s opponent, saying he’s “incredibly proud of Griffin’s decision to step forward as the only true Republican in the race — committed to preserving Staten Island as a great place to live and raise a family for generations to come.”
