BRIC-TV
Max Rose, a former Brooklyn DA operative and healthcare executive who served in Afghanistan and is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 11th Congressional district.
Congressional politics in New York is almost never exciting. The steep Democratic voter registration advantage means general elections are not often competitive, and the power of incumbency makes contested primaries rare. Six of the city’s 13 members of Congress have held their seats for more than 20 years.
The exception is the 11th district, which covers all of Staten Island as well as Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn. Republican Rep. Vito Fossella was undone by scandal in 2008. His successor, Democrat Michael McMahon, lasted a term before being swept out by the GOP wave of 2010. The man who then took the post, Republican Michael Grimm, was elected three times before pleading guilty to a federal tax evasion charge and doing prison time. The current occupant is former Staten Island district attorney Daniel Donovan, who won a special election in May 2015 and was easily re-elected in 2016.
This year, Democrats feel they have a shot to flip the only “red” seat in the five boroughs, and the leader of the Democratic field is Max Rose, whom City Limits interviewed on the BRIC-TV program 112BK on Tuesday.
A decorated veteran of the war in Afghanistan and a former healthcare executive and aide to Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson, Rose is one of several Democrats considered a contended for the nomination, but has raised more money and secured more institutional support than anyone else. Rose’s race has been tabbed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a “red to blue” priority as part of the party’s effort to retake control of the House of Representatives.
A Brooklyn native who’ll be married in two weeks and still serves in the National Guard, Rose says he’s running to restore a sense that effective government is possible. He says his moment of peril in combat – when an improvised explosive device detonated under his vehicle and armor plating installed through Congressional action likely saved his life – crystalized this belief for him, but his philosophy pre-dates his purple heart. In 2008, while a senior at Wesleyan, he appears to have penned an essay for The Nation that said, “[I]t is imperative that the United States puts forth a new social contract; one predicated on the same New Deal responsibility of the government to protect its citizenry not only from foreign foe, but also from the inevitable evils of our society’s faceless turbulence.”
Rose’s platform emphasizes progressive tax reform, gender equity, consumer rights, efforts to reduce opioid addiction and “true universal healthcare coverage.”
Rose has raised $659,000 to date and has just over $492,000 on hand. That’s substantially less than Donovan (with $719,000 in the bank) but more than Grimm, who is challenging Donovan for the Republican nomination and reports $198,000 in his coffers.
Film worker Omar Vaid, former boxer Boyd Melson, state technology worker and union leader Radhakrishna Mohan, financier Zach Emig, nonprofit leader Michael DeVito, Jr., special education teacher Michael Decillis and real-estate figure Paul Sperling also have campaign accounts with the Federal Election Commission. But only Mohan and DeVito received votes when the Staten Island Democratic County Committee voted overwhelmingly last month to endorse Rose for the race.
Petitions are due by April 12 to qualify for the June 26 federal primary. The general election is in November. Democrats are the biggest party in the district, with 46 percent of registered voters overall (compared with 27 percent for Republicans and 21 percent who identify no party) and a 44 percent to 30 percent advantage even in the Staten Island side of the district.
But party identification hasn’t had much to do with election outcomes recently on the island: President Trump won 56 percent of the vote there in 2016.
8 thoughts on “Video: War Vet Dem Trying to Flip NYC’s Lone ‘Red’ Congressional Seat Blue”
Max Rose won’t be helped on Staten Island by the fact that he worked for late Kings County DA Ken Thompson, who had a reputation as a cop hater. Many police officers live on SI and the NYPD enjoys overwhelming support here.
He’s a ‘Brooklyn native’ but does he live on SI, which is the vast majority of the district, now? I can find no mention of his current residence which makes me think there is a good chance he’s just renting an apartment somewhere on SI so he can say he’s a Staten Islander.
Rose is a Brooklyn native who lives in St. George now. It’s worth noting, native new yorker, that “just renting an apartment” is what two thirds of New Yorkers do, most of them for their entire lives.
That Ken Thompson’s “reputation” as a cop hater survived his letting Peter Liang off with no prison time is a great commentary on the relationship between reputations and facts.
So then Rose did move to SI just to run against Donovan. Was he living in the Brooklyn portion of NY-11 before? I doubt it. That’s o.k., he’s not the first person in either party to change residences for political reasons. Most NYers are renters, we all know that. But roughly 69% of Staten Islanders are homeowners. My opinion of Thompson is based on conversations with friends and neighbors in the NYPD.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/newyorkcountymanhattanboroughnewyork,bronxcountybronxboroughnewyork,queenscountyqueensboroughnewyork,kingscountybrooklynboroughnewyork,richmondcountystatenislandboroughnewyork,newyorkcitynewyork/HSG010216
Brooklynite Max Rose is to the left of Staten Island on Trump, immigration, Obamacare and crime. We need him like a hole in the head. We rejected the Brooklynite Dom Recchia, we should reject this liberal wolf in a moderate sheep’s clothing too.
Max is running in the wrong district. Maybe he feels that his military service would hurt him in a liberal district.
Check out Congressional candidate Democrat Michael DeVito here: https://www.facebook.com/michaeldevitojr/. He is also a veteran and Staten Island resident and has lived on the Island for 33 of his 44 years. He also works on the Island. He does not have as much money as Rose but is a true patriot and has a very well articulated position on the issues of important to Staten Islanders. His is a progressive, which is absolutely no longer a bad word in this Congressional District. Read about him, he is honest, hard working, and what I call the ‘real deal.’
Max Rose, has served this country in war, he, is honorable and well informed . So whether
you want a Staten Islander, born and raised on this Island as the only person who should represent it, you are making a tall order. Right now, one does not have to be a womanizer,
or a potential jail bird etc to gain the acceptance of Staten Islanders. People who have come to their senses and want a rational and brave person to take back the House, will definitely consider Max Rose for Representative of the 11th CD.
Paul Sperling is the only candidate running that knows the issues on Staten Island and has the solutions to fix many of our problems. He is born and raised on Staten Island and is at True Staten islander. Paul is a progressive candidate who considers this borough a working class borough and believes he is the only candidate with the right ideas for the people of statenisland let’s all unite for Paul Sperling to bring Staten Island into the forefront.