Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan is headed to Congress after rolling to victory in Tuesday's special election.

The newly-minted Republican lawmaker will be sworn in as early as next week, and that could set off a cascade of political reshuffling. Many expect former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney and Republican State Senator Andrew Lanza to run for the seat. He hasn't announced whether he would run. But if he does, that would leave his Senate seat open.

Rachel Shapiro is a political reporter for the Staten Island Advance. She said the candidates for Donovan's seat will have to contend with domestic violence, and the heroin and prescription drug epidemic. Staten Island's demographics have also shifted in the past 12 years, since Donovan first took office.

Shapiro said Staten Island is experiencing a big influx of immigrants.

"We haven't really seen, necessarily, a shift in voting, so it remains to be seen whether a new district attorney would take a shift in their policy stances or at least in outreach to immigrant groups."

In this interview, Shapiro talks with WNYC's Richard Hake about what else lies ahead now that Donovan is moving on.