2006 New York's 13th congressional district election
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| Elections in New York State |
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New York's 13th congressional district- Since easily winning a special election in 1997, Republican incumbent Vito Fossella had long been reelected without trouble in this district, based in Staten Island and the southwest section of Brooklyn. Fossella is the only Republican in New York City's Congressional delegation.
But in 2004, his share of the vote dropped dramatically against septuagenarian former Judge, assemblyman and mayoral candidate Frank Barbaro who achieved 41 percent of the vote. Attorney and former Community Board 10 Chairman, Steve Harrison, the 2006 Democratic candidate, improved on Barbaro's results receiving 43 percent of the vote.
CQPolitics rating: Republican Favored. Harrison is running again in 2008. Harrison received no money from the DCCC, and was generally considered an outsider candidate, but after a strong showing in five debates with his challenger, and a grass-roots style campaign, Harrison exceeded expectations by receiving 43% of the vote, despite being overspent 15-1 by the Fossella campaign (1.7 million to 130,000). This was the strongest showing by a Democratic candidate in several election cycles in this relatively conservative district. Based on this strong showing, Harrison has declared his intention for a rematch, but several other Democrats may still be considering entering the race, raising the potential of a Democratic primary against the incumbent.