​STATEN ISLAND -- The Island’s Democratic Party endorsed Rep. Max Rose, three Democratic incumbents in the state legislature and a candidate vying for Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis’ seat at its county convention Wednesday night.

Party chairman Assemblyman Michael Cusick urged fellow Democrats to fight to ensure Rep. Rose remains in Washington, D.C. and to reclaim the East Shore and South Brooklyn Assembly seat held by five-term Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis who is running for Congress against Rep. Rose.

The party endorsed Rose, Cusick, Assemblyman Charles Fall, state Sen. Diane Savino and Savino’s deputy chief of staff, Brandon Patterson, who is running for Malliotakis’ Assembly seat.

But the Party did not put forth any candidates to run for seats held by Republican lawmakers South Shore Assemblyman Michael Reilly or state Sen. Andrew Lanza.

Cusick said no one approached the party for interviews to run for those seats. However, he said he would be willing to consider candidates who want to run against the Republican incumbents before the April 2 deadline for candidates to file to run for congress and the state Legislature.

The assemblyman also said the party decided to not make any presidential endorsements in the lead up to the state’s April 28 presidential primary because party members would not be able to reach a consensus on the eight Democrats currently in the running.

“The party will not be [endorsing] because there are so many diverse candidates that people are supporting that there wouldn’t be a consensus from the party and folks have already circulated petitions for different candidates,” said Cusick, who recently endorsed former mayor Michael Bloomberg. “So we believe it was better to just let people pick their own candidates.”

All of the candidates attended the convention except for Assemblyman Fall, who is out of the country attending to “legislative responsibilities,” his spokesperson said, however she did not immediately respond when asked which country the assemblyman was in and for what purpose.

The party’s top of the ticket pick tried to rile up his Democratic base Thursday night, telling fellow Democrats: “We are just getting started.”

“They’re saying that 2018 was a fluke … they’re saying 2018 we were under the radar, they didn’t think that we could win so they got lazy and that’s the only reason why we got more votes from the other guy,” Rose said referring to his historic defeat of Republican incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan.

“Now they’re saying because we uphold our values, because we upheld the Constitution, because we did what was right and we didn't look at polls, that we’re going to lose, well I'll tell you this, that’s why we’re going to win,” Rose continued. “We’re going to take it to them and we’re going to keep on winning how does that sound?”

Three of the candidates -- Rose, Savino and Patterson -- are running in districts that also represent a slice of South Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Democratic Party spokesman Bob Liff recently said Rose, Savino and Patterson were endorsed unanimously by the party. However, he could not say if any other candidates had interviewed with the executive committee for those races before the endorsements were made.

Currently, Savino is the only one of the party’s Democratic slate with primary challengers.

The nominations for the five candidates were nearly unanimous for the exception of one woman who raised her hand to oppose the party’s endorsement of Savino.

The woman who opposed Savino’s sat next to Jasmine Robinson, who lost to Savino in the 2018 Democratic primary. Asked why the woman opposed Savino, Robinson said the woman would not be talking to the media.

On Thursday night, the party also endorsed Attorney Allyn Crawford as its pick for the borough-wide Civil Court seat and made endorsements for a number of district leadership positions and judicial delegate seats.

The primary for state and congressional races are scheduled for June 23.

Rep. Max Rose, three Democratic incumbents in the state legislature and a candidate vying for Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis’ seat won the unanimous endorsement of the Staten Island Democratic Party’s executive committee Thursday night.

No other prospective candidates came forward to be interviewed by the committee, the party said.

On the state legislature side, the party endorsed Assemblymen Charles Fall and Michael Cusick, the party chairman; state Sen. Diane Savino, and her deputy chief of staff, Brandon Patterson, who is running for Malliotakis’ Assembly seat.

“Last night, the Staten Island Democratic Party’s executive committee voted unanimously to endorse Max Rose, Diane Savino, Michael Cusick, Charles Fall and Brandon Patterson in their respective campaigns for office," Cusick said. "Each brings an extensive record of accomplishments on the issues facing our borough. Whether it’s protecting our toll discounts, improving our commute, standing up for labor, or securing millions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic -- this is a team that has delivered for Staten Island and is more than ready to do so again.”

Three of the candidates -- Rose, Savino and Patterson -- are running in districts that also represent a slice of South Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Democratic Party spokesman Bob Liff said Rose, Savino and Patterson were endorsed unanimously by that party’s executive committee. However, he could not say if any other candidates had interviewed with the executive committee for those races before the endorsements were made.

Currently, all five candidates do not have any known primary challengers.

Last year, Democratic Socialist Richard-Olivier Marius, a former campaign volunteer for Rose, stepped up to primary the incumbent. Marius had said he was upset that the freshman congressman did not initially support an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and other progressive legislation. But by the beginning of the year, Marius said he had dropped out of the primary, declining to say why.

Cusick ran unopposed in the last two elections, but attorney Anthony DeGuerre of Grymes Hill, a Republican, will run against the incumbent for the seat he has held for nearly two decades.

Retired Detective Paul Ciurcina Jr., a Republican, has stepped up to challenge Fall.

Meanwhile, Patterson has two Republican challengers -- former Assistant District Attorney Michael Tannousis and Marko Kepi, a former special assistant to ex-GOP state Sen. Marty Golden with close ties to former Rep. Michael Grimm.

DeGuerre, Ciurcina and Tannousis were all unanimously endorsed by the Island’s Republican Party executive committee.

Malliotakis appears to be the favored candidate of the local and national Republican parties to run against Rose. While she has a primary opponent, Brooklyn prosecutor Joseph Caldarera, the five-term assemblywoman has the support of the state and local Conservative parties and was unanimously endorsed by the Staten Island and Brooklyn Republican executive committees.

Malliotakis also said she won the “full support” and endorsement of President Donald Trump during a recent visit to the White House.

The deadline for prospective congressional and state candidates to file with the state Board of Elections to run is early April.

The primary for state and congressional races are scheduled for June 23.

STATEN ISLAND -- Staten Island Democrats elected Assemblyman Michael Cusick to lead the party as its new chairman, ending John Gulino’s 12-year tenure.

Speaking to nearly 400 party members and guests in the Crystal Room, South Beach, Cusick vowed that under his leadership, “every duly elected member of this county committee will be heard, I promise you." He also said that the party would be more transparent under his watch.
Cusick said the party would look to institute a number of reforms in the coming weeks, including a limit of three, two-year terms for county leaders.
Other reforms would ensure that party members receive more prompt notice to attend county committee meetings, and would mandate that committee members are contacted when decisions are made by the party’s executive committee.
“I think we heard from rank-and-file members over the years that they wanted these reforms, they wanted more transparency, they wanted to be more engaged,” Cusick said. "And that was always the point of us doing this.”
Cusick said he planned to appoint longtime Island attorney Laura LoBianco Sword and Stephanie Shavuo, an aide to City Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), as party vice chairs.
“There were concerns about who would be leader," Cusick said, "and that was just typical of negotiating and getting things out. I think everybody just got together, everybody was on the same page about the reforms … and there will be more reforms coming.”
In the end, just eight committee members voted against Cusick’s election. There was also one abstention.
The head of Staten Island Women Who March, Nicole Negron, who was vehemently opposed to an elected official leading the party, said she decided to vote for Cusick because it was the most “practical” decision.
“It came down to making a practical decision about how best to make the party more transparent, accountable, accessible, more representative of our communities -- these were the reasons we joined county committee, and we believe that we can accomplish more by working with party leaders than by shouting in from outside,” Negron said.
Democrats had long expressed frustration with Gulino’s leadership. The former chairman took heat when the party organization failed to back longtime Assemblyman Matthew Titone in last year’s race for Surrogate. Titone won a party primary and the general election.
Gulino also took fire when the party failed to qualify two Democratic state Supreme Court candidates for the ballot last year, in effect handing two coveted court seats to the Republicans.
Gulino did not attend Tuesday’s convention, but in prepared remarks that were read out loud from the podium pointed to recent party wins in races for Congress and district attorney. He also noted that Democrats had elected the first black official in borough history, Rose, and the first openly gay lawmaker in Island annals, Titone.
“We didn’t always agree,” Gulino wrote, “but we had the same goal: to elect Democrats.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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After 12 years of service to the Staten Island Democratic Party as Chairman - John Gulino has decided not to seek re-election stating a desire to dedicate more time to his law practice, family, and friends. First and foremost we all thank him for his years of humble and committed service to the Democratic Committee of Richmond County. As Chairman his record is unequaled. He became County Chair in 2007 and has accomplished so much for the Democratic Party. His accomplishments include nominating successful countywide candidates, bringing qualified professionals and diversity to the bench, bringing young professionals into the Party, expanding the Democratic Party base to individuals of various backgrounds, establishing and sustaining our headquarters, creating a digital footprint for the Party, ensuring that Staten Island had liaisons for City and State officeholders, serving as Treasurer of the New York State Democratic Party, and strengthening the Staten Island Democratic Party at the local, city and state levels. 

In a statement, Chairman Gulino said “I am thankful to have had the absolute honor and privilege to be the Chairman of the Staten Island Democratic Party for the last 12 years.”