“It’s my hope that Michael McMahon is going to be able to bridge that gap between law enforcement and the community. His office is so crucial with the charges that young men face when they are arrested and making plea deals,” said Staten Island Council Member Debi Rose.
A shift in political rule in Staten Island appears to be getting stronger with Tuesday’s election of McMahon to district attorney, who is a Democrat. His win brings consistency to every district attorney’s office in the city, with Democrats heading each one in all five boroughs.
Staten Island and the Republican Party are almost synonymous, even though Republicans make up only 30 percent of residents in the borough compared with 44 percent who identify as Democrats. The remaining 26 percent claim no political affiliation or are part of another party.
McMahon took 55 percent of the vote from his Republican opponent Joan Illuzzi, who got 45 percent of the vote. As of Wednesday, the Board of Elections counted slightly more than 38,000 votes in a borough with a population of almost a half million.
McMahon replaces Republican Dan Donovan, who was elected to Congress, replacing another Republican, Michael Grimm, who pled guilty to tax fraud charges. Republicans were under the impression that the political stars would align in their favor this week.
The case of Eric Garner might have played a role in the number of people who came out to vote. Donovan came under fire when a grand jury did not indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo. The chokehold death of Garner, caught on video, caused a ripple effect of demonstrations and civil resistance.
Donovan gave little to no reason as to why the officer was not charged and was under pressure to reveal information about evidence presented to the grand jury from some city officials. However, just as demonstrators took to the streets, it appears they also went to the voting booth, paving the way for McMahon to get into office.
Staten Island National Action Network President Cynthia Davis believes Garner’s death played a role in how Staten Islanders voted. She led many of the protests that took place after Garner’s killing.
“People are just tired of the same unjust politics from some of these district attorneys,” she said. “Certain cops were getting immunity from any charges by the DA, and what happened to Eric Garner was brutal. People saw that Eric Garner could be them.”
Davis added that people came out to vote in droves and noticed heavy participation. Most were people who had registered to vote during the election of Barack Obama.
“There was grassroots campaigning with this election, and we went door to door,” she said. “We explained to people the seriousness of this election. Right now we see a much brighter future.”
Before McMahon’s election, Rose was Staten Island’s lone Democratic politician. She said the party was not sure how the election would go. She said that there is still much to do to get even political representation in Staten Island, more people are going to the polls.
“We’ve been faced with apathetic voters since the initial spurt in registration and participation when Obama got elected,” she said. “We made a consistent effort to get those communities out to vote.”
Rose said that she often told those participating in protests and demonstrations that the same energy should be used to vote. Rose worked with McMahon while he was serving as representative for New York’s 13th District.
“If you’re concerned enough to occupy the block talking about Black lives matter, we should occupy the booth. The DA’s office is a pipeline to the prison complex,” she said.
While Staten Island is celebrating a victory, the Bronx is celebrating the win of Darcel D. Clark to district attorney. Clark beat her Republican opponent, Robert Slano, taking 86 percent of the vote. It was a historical win as she becomes the first women to be elected Bronx district attorney and the first African-American woman to be elected as a district attorney in the state of New York.
In other elections, Pamela Harris won the 46th District Assembly seat in Brooklyn. Her win is considered rare in that the district she represents is mostly white, covering the Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Seagate neighborhoods.
Alicia Hyndman won the 29th District Assembly seat in Southeast Queens, replacing William Scarborough, who pled guilty to mail and wire fraud charges in May.
