Assemblyman Michael Cusick Leads Democratic Pack for Grimm Seat: Sources

Source: New York Observer

Assemblyman Michael Cusick—a Democrat who has eyed a Congressional run in the past but has never jumped into the fray—is emerging as a front-runner for the party’s pick in a special election to replace Congressman Michael Grimm, sources told the Observer.

“It’s always been Cusick,” one Staten Island Democratic insider said this morning.

Mr. Grimm, a Republican, announced late last night he would step down January 6 from his post after pleading guilty to a single count of felony tax evasion. He will be replaced in a special election.

Democrats have long identified Mr. Cusick as a strong contender for the seat. He represents the borough’s Mid-Island area, which something of a swing district and where he has remained very popular. He won his last re-election with nearly 60 percent of the vote in the far-flung district, which includes slivers of the South Shore and a few pockets of the North Shore.

Read more: http://observer.com/2014/12/assemblyman-michael-cusick-leads-democratic-pack-for-grimm-seat-sources/