Another House seat for the dems... yawn
Noah Walden
Fossella Admits to Extramarital Affair
Representative
Vito J. Fossella answered questions on May 2 about his arrest for
driving while intoxicated. (Photo: Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)Updated, 2:05 p.m. | Representative Vito J. Fossella, a Staten Island Republican who was arrested on May 1 in Alexandria, Va., and charged with drunken driving, issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging that he had had an extramarital affair with Laura Fay, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, and that the two of them have a 3-year-old daughter together.
The prospect that Mr. Fossella could face a mandatory jail sentence if convicted had already threatened to bring to an end his decade-long career in the House, where Mr. Fossella is the only Republican representing New York City. The Daily News has reported that Mr. Fossella called Ms. Fay for help after his arrest and told officers that he was on his way to Grimm Street, where Ms. Fay lives, to visit a sick daughter. As speculation swirled over Mr. Fossella's relationship with Ms. Fay in recent days, his aides said only that they were good friends.
In Mr. Fossella's four-sentence statement on Thursday, he declined to address his political future or specify whether he would seek re-election this fall to a sixth full term:
I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a three-year-old daughter. My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry. While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind. Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to do my job and I will work hard to heal the deep wounds I have caused.
Mr. Fossella, 43, was driving with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he was pulled over. He faces a mandatory five days in jail if convicted.
The House ethics committee also could open an investigation into the matter. A spokesman for the committee declined on Thursday to comment on what action, if any, the panel is taking regarding Mr. Fossella. Under a committee rule, the panel must begin an investigation of a House member accused of a crime within 30 days, or report to the House why it is declining to investigate.
Mr. Fossella, the only Republican member of Congress from New York City, has apologized to his constituents on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, but already, there is speculation that his decadelong career in the House could come to an end. After serving three years in the City Council, he was elected to the House in a November 1997 special election to replace Susan Molinari.
In 2006, Mr. Fossella's Democratic opponent, Stephen Harrison, a Brooklyn lawyer, fared better than any previous opponent, winning 43 percent of the vote.
This year, Mr. Harrison and another Democrat, City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia Jr. of Brooklyn, are in a primary race to challenge Mr. Fossella. Democrats in Washington said the fact that there were two candidates they called credible seeking to challenge Mr. Fossella underscored his vulnerability this year. The Democrats currently hold a 235-to-199 edge in the House, with one vacancy.
If Mr. Fossella resigns or declines to seek re-election, several other Republicans might run to replace him and keep the seat in the party's hands. They include the Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr.; City Councilmen James S. Oddo and Vincent M. Ignizio; and State Senator Andrew J. Lanza.
The Staten Island Advance quoted Guy V. Molinari, a Republican power broker on Staten Island and a former congressman and borough president and mentor of Mr. Fossella's, as saying, "Vito is going through a very difficult time. I will be by his side regardless of what decisions he makes." (Mr. Molinari is the father of Susan Molinari and held the House seat himself, from 1981 to 1989.)
Born on Staten Island on March 9, 1965, Mr. Fossella is the son of a construction engineer and a florist and the fourth of seven children. He attended Monsignor Farrell High School and graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. He received a law degree from Fordham University in 1994, the same year he was elected to the City Council. Mr. Fossella's great-grandfather James A. O'Leary, a Democrat, represented Staten Island in the House from 1935 until his death in 1944.
Mr. Fossella and his wife, the former Mary Patricia Rowan, married in 1990. They have two sons and a daughter. On Wednesday, Mr. Fossella attended a confirmation ceremony for his oldest child at St. Clare's Roman Catholic Church in the Great Kills neighborhood of Staten Island, before returning to Washington.
Sewell Chan and David Stout contributed reporting.