Prosecutor tied to Garner case wins special NYC election

A district attorney connected to the case of an unarmed black man who died after a white police officer put him in a chokehold was elected Tuesday to fill a congressional seat left vacant when the incumbent pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who empaneled the grand jury that declined to indict the officer who placed Eric Garner in the fatal chokehold, will keep the seat in Republican hands. He defeated Democratic City Councilman Vincent Gentile in a low-turnout special election to succeed Michael Grimm.

The race occurred in the shadow of the Garner decision, which helped fuel the national debate on the relationship between police and minority communities.

With more than 98 percent of the vote counted in unofficial results, Donovan led Gentile 59 percent to 39 percent. Nearly 39,000 votes had been counted.

Donovan becomes the lone Republican to represent New York City in Congress.

Donovan came to national attention last year after a cellphone video showed Garner being placed in a chokehold during a street confrontation. The December grand jury decision led to protests, and Garner's name was cited on social media by a gunman who killed two New York police officers weeks later.

It also was a perpetual presence as Donovan campaigned, even as he took pains to avoid it. At a debate between Donovan and Gentile, someone in the audience yelled, “I can't breathe!” a reference to Garner's last words.

Donovan didn't mention Garner in his victory remarks Tuesday. But the specter of the grand jury decision didn't hurt Donovan on Staten Island, home to a significant number of police officers, firefighters and working-class whites, and the outcome of the race was never truly in doubt.

Grimm, a Republican elected to a third term while under federal indictment, resigned on Jan. 5. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges related to a Manhattan health food restaurant he partly owned, Healthalicious, and faces up to three years in prison at his June 8 sentencing.

A former FBI agent who was once considered a rising political star, Grimm was caught on camera last year threatening a reporter questioning him about an investigation into his campaign funds.

Grimm told NY1 television reporter Michael Scotto: “I'll break you in half. Like a boy.”

Wire services