It’s a solitary red island in a vast sea of blue.
Unlike the rest of NYC and much of the US, Staten Island Republican candidates survived Election Day’s blue tsunami, where the GOP lost control of both chambers of Congress and Democrats expanded their dominance of the state Legislature by 14 seats.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis handily won her fourth term in Congress despite getting snubbed for the first time by the local newspaper, the Staten Island Advance, which endorsed Democrat Mike Decillis — who lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn — over her support of President Trump. The seat represents all of Staten Island and a sliver of Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge.
“[Staten Island] voters are angry,” Malliotakis said. “We don’t like the one-party rule in the city and state, and we know who is to blame for the quality-of-life issues we’re facing, and that’s why we take it out on the Democrats.
NYC’s lone Republican in Congress, Malliotakis credited Staten Islanders for coming out in full force to support borough Republicans, saying they’re sick of being slammed by congestion pricing and tolls, saddled with soft-on-crime policies pushed by lefty Dems and paying disproportionately higher property taxes than other boroughs.
“We’re the smallest borough, so if you have little say in statewide elections and citywide elections, and you’re going to get stuck with a mayor and a governor you don’t like, at least we can elect people on the local level and have some control in pushing back against a radical agenda that is so out of touch with Staten Island,” she said.
Staten Island Republicans also retained three state Assembly and two Senate seats and even picked up a state judgeship. The winners included Assemblyman Michael Tannousis, the Staten Island Republican Party chairman.
That’s a far cry from nearby southern Brooklyn across the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge, where Republicans lost four state Legislature seats in Tuesday’s election after making big strides in recent years.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Attorney General Letitia James — all Democrats — easily won their re-election bids despite losing Staten Island.
And five ballot questions pushed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration –- which exponentially increase the socialist pol’s power under the guise of streamlining government — were overwhelmingly approved despite also being rejected by Staten Island voters.
Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans in the city’s most conservative borough, but voters there typically back Republicans at the polls and many support Staten Island breaking away from NYC.
Council Minority Leader David Carr, a Staten Island Republican, credited a strong borough GOP ticket led by Malliotakis for getting people out to vote.
“Even our middle-of-the-road voters are common-sense voters,” said Carr. “I’m not surprised that we weathered the storm, but I am surprised at the depth of [Republican] losses nationally.”
